


Bound

by CleoClipper



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, F/M, M/M, Male Slash, Mating, Vampires, Violence, Werewolves, Witches, travellers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-09
Updated: 2015-04-21
Packaged: 2018-02-24 16:40:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 23,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2588714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CleoClipper/pseuds/CleoClipper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Supernatural AU! Damon Salvatore is a weary vampire traveling the world in search of his younger brother when he finds a baby Jeremy among the rubble of a destroyed Traveller village in 1979. Years later, Damon and barely-sixteen-year old Jeremy travel to a 1994 Mystic Falls to find Katerina Petrova, the vampire who turned him, to find out more about his brother. Instead they find her doppelganger, the powerful Lockwood werewolves and descendants of the Bennett witch clan that were thought to be long dead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! The little plot bunny for this one came while I was deliriously reading through articles for my two papers due this month (cries) and since it hasn't left me I decided to do something with it. Main pairings will be Damon/Bonnie and Jeremy/Tyler, so if you don't like slash then DON'T READ! Don't say I didn't warn you! Not really sure how long this one will be. Since I am writing other stories, I will update only if people wish me to continue.
> 
> WARNINGS: violence, possible sexual content at a later time so ratings might change
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries or characters associated with it. I only own my OMCs and this plot.

_Belgium, 1979_

The stark cold air of winter whipped against Damon Salvatore’s body as he traveled across the snow covered lands of eastern Belgium. There was nothing but snow for miles and miles and _miles_ , stretching on like a never ending land of white with short glimpses of grey buildings that were either destroyed or partially still standing. It reminded Damon of the state of the world during the Second World War, where desolation and grief seemed to surround him. Thank God it was over.

He stumbled up the hill to a completely devastated village. He frowned when he saw fires still burning and the putrid smell of decaying corpses filled his nose. Tents lay destroyed; tapestries flew in the air in defeat. There wasn’t a person in sight and this made him growl in annoyance. The last human he came across was yesterday and he was already hungry again. Traveling for long periods tended to make his bloodlust spike. But he was curious as to what happened here. It didn’t look like any other city that he had come across; it looked more of a campsite.

With his numb fingers he pulled out the piece of paper he’d ripped out of a Bible to write down the information given to him by the kind woman at the bar he compelled in the last town. She’d already been compelled before and made to forget so he couldn’t get much but it was better than his dead end from this morning. When he’d found the purple tulip left on the table for him he knew he was on the right path. Katherine had been through here and he was catching up. It was about time too, as he’d been looking for her since 1923; the same year that his younger brother went missing from an underground Chicago nightclub.

Damon stumbled down the hill into town, his supernatural hearing picking up shouting and cries from farther beyond him as another village was attacked and people were rounded up. As he took in his surroundings and saw the various symbols that decorated the tents, he understood why the village lay in shambles.

“Travellers,” Damon growled lowly. He wasn’t particularly fond of their species as they’d tried to kill him a few times in the past. No supernatural creatures were. They had the power to undo the magic that ordinary witches possessed. Their magic was the purest of the earth and they used it to protect themselves rather than to attack. He was surprised he could walk through this village without being killed by the magic undoing his vampirism. Perhaps it faded when the spell casters died.

“Hello?” he called, trying not to sound desperate. God was he hungry. What he wouldn’t give for even a dog to come crawling out of hiding.

He continued on this path for quite some time, becoming more and more discouraged when he found no one alive. He found a couple dead bodies but turned his nose up when he realized they were frostbitten and already decaying. This village had been attacked days ago and nobody knew.

A shrill cry stopped him in his tracks. That one was definitely in his vicinity. He listened intently and picked up the sound of a heartbeat drumming hard. Smiling wickedly, he followed the noise of both the heartbeat and the crying to a destroyed hut. Large patches of straw and wood lay in the snow, half burnt or destroyed by whoever attacked. Half of the roof was missing and Damon could hear the crying that had turned hysterical clearly.

When he reached the lone step of the first house he winced and covered his ears as the cries assaulted his ears sharply. Determined not to be outdone, he let his veins appear under his eyes and rushed into the room with every intention of scaring his victim into silence. He entered through the back of the hut and was more than surprised to see a woman on the ground covered in blood. In her crooked arm, a baby screamed for attention.

Damon froze in the doorway, taken aback. It hadn’t dawned on him that the crying was from an infant, which now presented a problem for him in terms of feeding. He may have been a vampire and he may have given into bloodlust one too many times but vowed to _never_ hurt children. There had to be a special kind of hell for vampires that killed children, and he would be the king of it if he drank the blood of this poor, defenseless infant.

He was by the child’s side in seconds and he gently scooped the babe into his arms. He was freezing and red-faced from screaming. He tucked him in the side of his warm Peacoat, cooing to him as gently as he could.

“You’re alright,” he soothed. “It’s alright now.”

Slowly, the cries subsided as the baby was warmed by the material. Wet brown eyes stared at him innocently through dark lashes, rosy cheeks just waiting to be pinched and kissed. Damon allowed himself a small smile at his innocence. It felt foreign to him; he couldn’t remember the last time anything made him smile since Stefan’s disappearance.

A sudden gasp from the woman on the ground and a hand grabbing his ankle made him jump. He flushed to himself when he realized that he hadn’t heard her heart still beating because he was too focused on the baby in his arms. Tucking the baby further into his coat, he leaned down to hear the woman wheezing her final words.

“Take him, please…save my Jeremy,” she begged with tearful brown eyes. “Take my Jeremy.”

Before Damon could answer her head hit the ground again with a soft thump, this time for good. He pressed two fingers to her pulse just to make sure, sighing as he pulled them back. The baby, Jeremy, made a soft noise that captured his attention again. Now he was staring at him as if he was expecting something that Damon couldn’t give.

A piece of gold chain flashed just under his neck. Damon frowned when he pulled it from his shirt and saw a talisman resting on his chest. Engraved on the dark metal were the symbols for water, fire, air and nature.

“Interesting,” he muttered as he reached out for the talisman. It burned him and he hissed, dropping it immediately. A dark scar appeared on his hand briefly before it faded. His brow furrowed in confusion for a moment before Jeremy’s gurgling laugh made him scowl.

 “Not funny,” he reprimanded. He was awarded a toothless smile and he couldn’t help but smile back.

Taking the babe in his arm he checked the rest of the house to make sure no one else was alive. When he deemed everyone good and dead he dragged their bodies to lay them in the first room. He removed his coat and wrapped Jeremy in it before draining all the bodies of blood. Jeremy watched him with childish curiosity, not even flinching when Damon would raise his blood-coated face every once and a while to savor his meal.

“Delicious,” Damon sighed when he finished draining his third victim. He looked at the dead bodies of the two children and felt guilty for wanting to have them next. Internally, he knew he was being foolish in not wanting to take blood from someone who no longer needed it but it felt wrong. But he was hungry and who knew when he would come across someone again.

Damon closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Behind him, Jeremy was making all kinds of noises to indicate his excitement at being warm. Finally making a decision, he murmured a quiet apology and gently drained the children of their blood. When he was done he laid them back by the rest of their family, all of them matching in paleness of their skin.

As he stood to leave he frowned when he looked at Jeremy. He was staring back at him with such wonder it made his usually cold heart melt. The longer he watched him the more he realized that he couldn’t leave him there. He wasn’t particularly fond of anyone that could do magic but he wasn’t enough of a bastard to leave a child to freeze to death. And even if he didn’t, whoever destroyed this village might decide to come back and he’d never survive if the wrong person found him. The voice that sounded like his long lost brother reprimanded him for even thinking he leave without him.

“Fine,” he grumbled to himself as he scooped Jeremy in his arms. He gurgled as Damon covered his head before stepping out into the biting cold once more. After about 20 minutes of walking the dark-haired vampire looked down at the bundle in his arms and a small smile stretched his lips when he saw him sleeping.

 _You can’t keep him, you know_ , the rational part of his conscious admonished. _You don’t know how to take care of a child! And how are you going to look for Stefan when you have this burden to carry?_

_But he’s so young. It’s not fair just to leave him somewhere and hope someone decent finds him._

_Not your problem! You’re a vampire! You drink human blood to survive! One day he’s going to grow up and then you’re going to drain him too!_

_Would not!_

“Shut-up,” he groaned out loud. Jeremy pressed closer to him as he whined in his sleep. His rational side was right; there was no way he could keep looking for Katherine and Stefan if he was saddled with caring for a child. The right thing, and smart thing, would be to leave him some place safe like a church and hope that the local priest would take mercy on him. That was the best plan.

Securing him tighter against his body when the wind started picking up, Damon used his quick speed to make it to the next town he saw in the distance. It was dark by the time he reached the beginning of it and was comforted when he saw a few people leaving buildings with torches. He roamed through idly, looking for any kind of church or sanctuary and finally came upon it in the middle of town. It was probably the biggest building he’d come across all day and he was nearly relieved when he found it.

He climbed the steps of the Gregorian styled chapel, the dark color of the stone making it appear foreboding. The only source of light was the two torch holders on either side of the door. Damon placed Jeremy on the first step and tucked his coat around him tightly so he would stay warm until someone found him.

“This is for the best,” Damon told him as he stroked his tiny fingers with one of his long ones. “Someone in the church will take you in and give you a good life. Might not be the best but it’ll be better than how the rest of your family turned out.”

Jeremy’s fingers wrapped around his. His toothless grin was back and Damon wondered what he could be _possibly_ smiling at.

“You wouldn’t want to be around me anyways. I’m not exactly father material,” Damon sighed. “I don’t know how to take care of a child. And I have to find my brother. He needs me more than you do.”

When Jeremy’s smile grew, Damon scowled in annoyance. He allowed his eyes to turn black veins to appear under his eyes like he was ready to feed. Instead of crying as he thought he would, Jeremy merely laughed and reached to grab at his veins.

“Seriously kid, I can’t,” Damon shook his head, normal facial features back in place. Without another word he took off down the stairs, intent on heading for the street when he heard him start crying. He slowed his steps and eventually stopped, closing his eyes as he listened to the baby cry.

_He’s not crying for you idiot! Keep walking!_

_Don’t you dare leave that poor child! Who’s to say the priest will take care of him? He might hate Travellers!_

_You hate them too! They tried to kill you a few times, remember? If you raise this child he might turn out the same! And you might kill him when you get hungry enough!_

_What if he can help you find Stefan? He can do magic!_

_No! Keep walking! We have things to do and taking care of a stray baby isn’t one of them!_

With that last thought, Damon continued marching down the street. He heard the door to the church open and he ducked behind a worn tavern wall. The nun that answered picked the baby up and he could hear her cooing to him gently. He sighed in relief; he would have a good home just like he promised.

“What’s this?” she murmured as she found the talisman around his neck. She gasped immediately. “Witchcraft!”

Damon’s undead heart lurched at the pure terror in her voice as she went back inside the church screaming for her fellow sisters. Jeremy’s crying never ceased and it was ringing in his ears, damning him for leaving him in the arms of religious zealots that _hated_ witchcraft and anything to do with it. Why he didn’t think of that before he had no idea. Now he felt like a fool for taking the baby from one bad situation to another.

Cursing, he pulled himself away from the wall and sprinted back up the stairs of the church. He threw the door open, half expecting to be thrown out, and followed Jeremy’s cries all the way to the back of the church where the nun had taken him. He stopped in the doorway as four other nuns crowded around the distraught babe.

“Look, he’s one of _them_!” one of them shrieked as she held the talisman in her hand. “The mark of evil!”

“What if he’s the Anti-Christ?” another wailed in agony. “Oh Sister Olivia what do we do?”

“The magic runs deep in his veins. There is no amount of purging we can do to save this child. We can only hope that God will take pity on his young soul and allow him into the Kingdom of Heaven,” Sister Olivia said solemnly. “He mustn’t be allowed to live any longer to spew more evil.”

“We should give him to Father Marcus! Let him deal with this impurity!”

“Or you can give him back to me.”

The nuns gasped as Damon made his presence known. Jeremy’s wailing finally stopped as his wide brown eyes locked in on him.

“Who are you?” Sister Olivia took a step back as Damon came closer. “What are you doing here?”

Instead of answering verbally, Damon allowed the veins under his eyes to speak for themselves. The nuns screamed as they ran for the other side of the room but the vampire was faster. He ripped out their throats one by one, saving the one that held Jeremy for last. She cowered against the wall, offering the child to him like a sacrificial lamb.

“Here! Take your evil devil spawn!” she whimpered as she tossed the babe at his feet. Damon merely stepped over him, bearing his fangs at her. She shrieked and shielded her face as he grabbed her by the throat and snapped her neck in the next moment. He sank his fangs deep into her neck and drank his fill before tossing her dead body aside.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his thin long-sleeved shirt and took his coat that was still wrapped around Jeremy. Once he put it back on he grabbed the babe in one arm, tucked him in tight and left the church. He made sure to keep him hidden as he passed people rushing up the steps of the church to see what the commotion was about.

“Alright, that was a bad idea,” he admitted to the gurgling baby. “That was my fault kid. I should’ve known they would’ve thought you were the devil.”

Drool dribbled down his chin when he opened his mouth to yawn. Damon sighed and used his sleeve to wipe his face.

“You can tag along for now but when we get to London, you have to go in a shelter or something,” Damon sighed as Jeremy rubbed his face against his shirt. “I mean it. I don’t do children.”

He wondered when he’d become so desperate for companionship that he’d settled for talking to a child that couldn’t even understand him. He took Jeremy’s warbling as a positive thing and let the fact that he didn’t regret saving him as much as he wanted to sink in. He’d been alone so much in the past fifty years that he nearly forgot what it was like to have someone as company that wasn’t afraid of him.

Jeremy cooed happily against him and he allowed himself one small smile. The kid was cute and, alright, maybe he _liked_ having someone around to talk to that needed him. But once he got to London, Jeremy was going to have to find a new home. And he would make sure that the people in it wouldn’t try to kill him.

* * *

_16 Years later: Paris France, 1994_

The bar was heavily crowded for a Wednesday afternoon, though Madi Gras probably had something to do with it. Damon had celebrated enough of that holiday to last a lifetime, yet he always found himself in the middle of celebrations. But the reason for his visit was far from social.

The local pub about two blocks from his house was always crowded and today was no exception. They were well known for having the best prices on Cognac he enjoyed on a daily basis and it was normally a quiet place for him to drink in peace, with the exception of holidays. It was his respite from his lackluster job as an automobile salesman before he had to get back to his second job, which required him to be ten times more sober than being a salesman.

However, today’s respite was spent doing other things.

He kept his eyes trained on the table in his line of view in the back corner. They’d been there for some time. The blonde woman swirled her amber colored drink in her hand as she kept her ice blue eyes fixated on the man in front of her. Damon lowered his head and slowly sipped on his Cognac as he used his super hearing to listen to their conversation.

“What did you discover about the information I gave you?” the blonde spoke in fluent French.

“You were right,” the man’s voice was hushed. “The bodies that were found were all drained of blood with two puncture wounds on the side of the neck. And there was a purple flower found on each one.”

“Do you think….?”

“It was her. Katerina Petrova was here in Paris.”

“Do you believe she is still?”

“I am not sure. She is looking for something.”

“What?”

“Some sort of stone to break a curse of some kind. Has your coven heard of anything?”

“Whatever it is she wants my coven and I are better off not knowing. Arielle says that she is looking for a witch to help her to replace the one that was murdered. Perhaps to break this curse you speak of.”

The blonde held her hand over her glass and the dark amber filled it to the top.

“That is a very convenient trick,” the man chuckled. “If only I were blessed with the gift of witchcraft instead of the gift of immortality.”

“That is rather unfortunate,” she smirked.

Damon continued to eavesdrop but the crowd had started growing and becoming more rambunctious, making it hard to hear. They never brought up Katherine’s name again, but now that he knew someone who knew of her, he could use his own measures of making people talk. The witch was too powerful but her vampire friend…he could take him.

After another hour the witch left, making the excuse to get back to her children. Damon stayed behind as the vampire had two more drinks before he left out the back door. He followed him moments later, spotting him in the covered alleyway where he had a human woman cowering against the wall.

Damon found a piece of wood resting by the wall of the door and drove it into the vampire’s back. He cried out in agony and fell to his knees. The woman screamed as she started running towards the opening of the alley. Damon blocked her path and she ran into him.

“Get away from me!” she screamed hysterically. Damon grabbed her wrists as she tried to shove him away and grabbed her chin firmly with the other hand.

“Stop fighting me,” his eyes dilated as he compelled her to do exactly that. She went limp in his arms immediately.

“You never saw us and this never happened. You went to the bar, had a couple drinks and went home,” he said softly. She repeated his words verbatim and he let her go when he was satisfied. When she was gone, he turned his attention to the vampire that was slowly, and noisily, trying to dislodge the wooden beam from his back.

Damon swiftly wrenched the wood from his back and he cried out in pain. He slammed the vampire against the wall in the next second and pushed it through his stomach, earning another cry of pain. He held his throat and squeezed tightly, cutting his cry short.

“Who are you?” he wheezed.

“A friend of Katherine Pierce’s. I believe you know her as Katerina Petrova,” Damon twisted the beam around and he whimpered. “I want to know everything you do.”

“I—I don’t know anything! I’ve never met her!”

“Is that right? Then how did you know about the purple flowers?”

“They were found with the bodies! I did not know it was something that she did regularly!”

“I find that hard to believe. A vampire like you knows that she leaves a purple flower with every body she drains. A vampire that she’s is good with,” Damon snarled. “Where is she?”

“I do not know!”

“I heard you and the witch talking! You’re one of her informants!” he snarled at the vampire he held against the dank wall of the dark alley by the neck. His hand squeezed just a little tighter around his throat and he coughed up more dark blood. “Where did she say she was going?”

“I d-don’t know any more than what I told the witch!” he sputtered. “P-Please—!”

Damon twisted the stake in his stomach as he pushed it further into his body and he howled with pain. With all the noise of the festivities it was drowned out.

“I think you _do._ But if you’re not going to tell me then there’s no point in keeping you alive—”

“She said…she was going back home!” he wheezed through terrified sobs. “She said she h-had to go home to find a stone of some sort!”

“ _Where_?”

“I—I don’t know! S-Somewhere in the States! A p-place called Virginia!”

Damon’s brow furrowed.

“You said she was looking for a stone?”

“Yes! I don’t know what kind of stone it was! She wouldn’t say what it did! Please let me go!” he pleaded tearfully. Damon dropped him and he curled into a ball.

“If I find out you’re lying to me, I’ll come back and finish this,” Damon grabbed him by his jacket and slammed his head into the wall. The broken vampire nodded frantically. Satisfied with this answer he pulled the stake out.

“Get lost,” he snapped. “And if you tell anyone I was here, I’ll tear your head off your shoulders.”

The vampire nodded frantically before he was gone in a blur of clothes and blood. Damon dusted the imaginary dust from his hands and went back inside. He took his usual seat at the end of the crowded bar, which was miraculously open, and ordered another whiskey on the rocks. As he drank he mused over the information he just learned. Katherine was going all the way back to America for a stone? It sounded suspicious enough for Damon to want to make the journey back too. If he could find Katherine, she could lead him to Stefan.

It had been over 70 years since he’d last seen his brother. After his disappearance from an speakeasy back in Chicago he vowed to find him. Damon knew for a fact that Stefan didn’t just up and leave, not without his belongings or without him. They’d made a promise to keep in touch if they decided to go their separate ways and Stefan wasn’t one to break a promise. He wanted to know who took his brother and why.

The sound of a glass breaking in back of him followed by obnoxious laughter had him turning around. He was on his feet instantly when he recognized the young boy that was engaging a rather heavy set man in a wrestling match and winning. The man grunted and groaned as his arm slowly but steadily sank down to the table and those watching erupted into cheers.

“You’ve _got_ to be kidding,” he growled as he watched people pat him on the back.

“The champion of champions!” a boy with sandy blonde hair shouted gleefully. “That was brilliant Jeremy!”

Damon’s eyes narrowed when Jeremy was handed a dark drink from a woman with blonde hair and bright pink lipstick. She kissed him on the cheek and he grinned when everyone cheered more. The black-haired vampire scowled as he watched him down the drink before calling for a new opponent. He crossed the room in seconds, wedging himself between his friends and patrons and pulling him out of his seat.

“Damon?” he cried as he took a look at his irate guardian. “What’re you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing. You’re supposed to be at school,” his eyebrow rose. Jeremy smiled sheepishly.

“They let us out early?”

“Nice try,” he snatched the drink out of his hand and shoved it into his friend’s hand. “Say goodbye.”

Jeremy waved helplessly to his friends as he was dragged out of the bar. When they were outside Damon didn’t release his hold but dragged him down the street instead.

“You’re lucky everyone was too drunk to realize that you’re half that man’s size and there’s no possible way that you could beat him in an arm wrestling match on your own!” he scolded as he marched through throngs of people. “I told you not to use your persuasion Jeremy! People are going to get suspicious when you suddenly get _everything_ you want!”

“Relax Day. No one noticed,” Jeremy grinned. “But did you see how fast I beat him?”

Damon snorted, “You cheated. Using persuasion to lower his arm isn’t winning.”

“Whatever.”

“This is the third time I’ve caught you drinking in public,” he snapped as they rounded the corner. “Did you even go to school today or did you and your boozy friends decide to start celebrating Madi Gras early?”

“We went until lunch! We weren’t doing anything for the rest of the day!”

“And you persuaded your teacher that you and your friends needed a day off, didn’t you? Just like you persuaded the bar owner to let you in, _again_ ,” Damon said flatly. Jeremy sighed loudly.

“It’s not a big deal Day—”

“It _is_ a big deal Jeremy. People can sense when you do magic, I’ve told you this I don’t know how many times! If vampires and witches are around they’d know exactly what you are and they’d kill you!”

“No one’s realized it yet. Maybe there are no witches and vampires around _to_ sense it,” he protested. Damon rolled his eyes and dug his fingers back into his shirt as he continued dragging him down the street.

“Maybe it’s time for you to be home-schooled. You clearly can’t be trusted in public without adult supervision.”

“You already tried that. It didn’t work,” Jeremy smirked, a habit he most definitely learned from him. It irked Damon almost as much as it made him proud.

“I’ll handcuff you to the kitchen table. You won’t be going anywhere then.”

“You wouldn’t. I’d use magic to get out of it anyway,” Jeremy grinned. Damon rolled his eyes but continued to berate him as they walked through the crowded streets. They reached their suburban neighborhood twenty minutes later.

“What were _you_ doing there?” Jeremy accused when he had closed the door behind him. “I thought you were following a lead.”

“I was,” Damon gave him a pointed glare. “Why do you keep ditching school Jeremy?”

“I didn’t ditch the whole day!”

Damon folded his arms, same glare in place. Jeremy sighed as he dropped onto their worn couch.

“School is boring,” he whined. “I already know everything!”

“But we talked about this. People are going to ask questions if they don’t see you in school,” Damon sat next to him. “Just like I have to keep up pretenses with having a job, you do too.”

“But it’s so repetitive! Everything we’re covering you taught me when I was younger so it’s pointless for me to go.”

“I taught you early so you could be ahead, not to ditch because you think you’re too smart.”

 Jeremy sighed dramatically and slumped into the couch. Damon’s lips twitched as he watched him but he refused to smile, lest he let Jeremy believe he wasn’t in as much trouble as he wanted him to believe.

“I’m bored Damon. I feel like every day is the same old thing,” he grumbled petulantly. “I don’t get to practice my magic unless you’re not around, no offense. We don’t do _anything_ fun like we used to and the only time we get to go somewhere is when you’re chasing a lead on Katherine or Stefan and you just make me wait until you come back.”

Damon sighed. He knew Jeremy was restless like every other boy his age and he couldn’t blame him. In becoming his self-appointed guardian he’d done everything possible to keep his heritage hidden. When he wasn’t looking for Stefan or Katherine, he was researching the history of Travellers and found that the gypsies were just as hunted now as they were before by supernaturals and humans alike. The best way to protect Jeremy was to stop him from using magic, which was proving quite difficult as this was the age when his power was blooming and he wanted to use magic for _every little thing_. It amused him and annoyed the hell out of him at the same time.

“I don’t let you do magic to protect you Jer. If anyone knew about what you could do you’d be killed. Travellers aren’t liked very much.”

“Why?”

“Because the kind of magic you can do is pure. You can utilize the earth and manipulate it how you want. Everyone wants that kind of power, even witches.”

Jeremy sighed as he tipped his head back to stare at the ceiling.

“I hate being a Traveller. It’s pointless,” he scowled. “I don’t want to be different if I’m going to be killed for it.”

“That’s life kid. When you have something people fear, they make you the enemy so they can destroy you,” Damon mimicked his position and stared at the ceiling as well. “I hate having to monitor your every move but I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t think something would happen to you.”

“Then let me practice! Let me learn how to defend myself and you won’t _have_ to worry about me!” Jeremy exclaimed. “I can use natural magic to protect myself and you. You just have to let me get stronger.”

He’d thought about it but he was still afraid that someone would realize that he was a part of the gypsy heritage. Jeremy needed to practice to become stronger and hone his skills but his paranoia got the better of him. He couldn’t protect Jeremy forever but his irrational, overprotective fatherly mind told him he could.

He snorted inwardly. If only Stefan could see him now fretting over the well-being of his wild sixteen-year-old charge.

 “Natural magic is what draws them to you,” he leaned back on the couch with him. “Vampires and supernaturals sense it. We have no idea how many of them live near us.”

 “You never told me why that is.”

“I don’t know. I’ve been trying to find out. All I know is that if a vampire senses you, they’ll rip your throat out before you could even complete a spell. You can’t underestimate them.”

“And you can’t underestimate me! I saved your life once, remember?”

“You’ll never let me forget it,” Damon rolled his eyes. “But let’s not forget who’s kept you healthy and fed your entire life.”

“Look Day, I know you just want to keep me safe but you’re smothering me,” Jeremy turned to him. “Can’t you just let me practice for an hour or two a day? I just have so _much_ building inside me that I’ll explode if I don’t get to let it out!”

Damon pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes. Jeremy did need an outlet, one more productive than ditching school and participating in drunken arm wrestling matches. But he was also concerned that Jeremy might accidentally kill _him_ should he not be able to rein in his power.

“I’ll think about it,” he said as he stood. “My lead panned out today. He told me where Katherine was going.”

Jeremy shot up immediately, complaints forgotten, “Where?”

“America. Mystic Falls, Virginia to be exact,” Damon pulled a book from the dusty bookshelf by their fireplace. He blew dust off the spine before opening it. It was a photo album with pictures dating all the way back to 1860. He was just barely a man then, Stefan even less so. He stared at a picture of him and Stefan when they were older and he let out a slight smile. This was one of those times that he missed his brother fiercely. He would’ve loved having Jeremy around.

“Didn’t you used to live there?”

“Yes.”

“Are we going?”

“Yeah,” he flipped the page and found a picture of him, Stefan and Katherine Pierce, as she had went by when she was staying on their plantation. He couldn’t help running his finger down her cheek, forever capturing the woman he thought he would spend the rest of his life with. Now when he looked at picture of her he wanted to rip it to shreds. But this one picture he kept to remind him that they were all human once.

“When?”

“We’ll leave at the end of the week,” Damon shut the book and set it back on the shelf. Jeremy made a noise of protest.

“But I have school! I have friends Damon!”

“You don’t even go to school and you told me you persuaded those boys to be your friends,” Damon’s eyebrow rose. “I don’t think they’ll miss you too much.”

Jeremy flipped him the bird. Damon chuckled as he ruffled his thick brown hair.

“C’mon. Let’s make dinner.”

“You make it. I suck at cooking with that stove.”

“How about you use your magic and make something good?”

The smile that lit Jeremy’s face made Damon remember why he decided to keep him. He watched from the doorway as Jeremy used his hands to summon ingredients and cooking utensils he needed, his face bursting with happiness and a childlike wonder that hadn’t escaped him over the years. There were day where Jeremy could really try his patience and he had a hard time remembering why keeping the brat around was a good idea. And then there were days like these where the amount he felt for the kid was overwhelming.

The sixteen years he spent with Jeremy had been some of the best for as long as he could remember. Parenthood was not easy by any means and sometimes Damon wondered why in the hell he thought he could raise a child alone, and a supernatural one at that. But for some reason he couldn’t bring himself to give Jeremy up. Perhaps it was his conscious that sounded too much like his brother telling him that he needed the kid around. He’d been right, even if he hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself.

Jeremy had taken his loneliness away. He’d been alone for fifty years in his endless search for his brother and he hated it. He blamed Katherine for destroying his heart and making him unwilling to open up to another when he had given her everything and she’d left him vulnerable and broken. He spent years dragging Stefan around the world in search of her, angry, confused and deeply in love with someone that had turned into a ghost. It was only until Stefan knocked some sense into him that he realized that Katherine never truly loved him. Not the way he had loved her.

 “Do we have ham?” Jeremy’s question knocked him from his thoughts. He shook his head, ridding Katherine from his mind as he joined Jeremy in the kitchen. As he watched him eat supper, he felt nostalgia fill him as played through memories of life in Mystic Falls when he was human. He hadn’t been back there for over 100 years and he wondered how different it was

“I can’t wait to see where you lived,” Jeremy said through bites of his baguette sandwich. “I bet it was really nice.”

“It was for the time.”

“Is your house big?”

“Yes. You’ll like it.”

“What does it look like?”

Damon smiled, “You’ll see when we get there.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! Please enjoy!

The first thing Damon noticed upon his reentry into his hometown was that the scenery hadn't changed much in the years he'd been gone. It was the same green forestry and open fields he'd experienced in the 1800s only with paved roads and more diners and auto shops along the way. He felt nostalgia creep over him as he remembered the summer days he and Stefan would spend outside playing football and using their boyish charms on beautiful women in the hopes of securing a future wife. That was all he had wanted back then. A simple life with the woman he chose and a brood of children to come home to in the late evenings. It was the future he saw with Katherine. He missed those naïve days of being human.

"Where is everything?" Jeremy's unimpressed tone snapped him out of his musings.

"We're not there yet," Damon rolled his eyes. Jeremy huffed and shifted in the seat next to him.

"This place looks like a dump."

"This dump is going to be home for a while so suck it up, buttercup," he grinned as he reached over to ruffle Jeremy's hair. He swatted him away.

"You really think Katherine came back _here_? What could she possibly want from this…backwater place?" Jeremy's nose upturned when he rolled down the window and was hit with the rancid stench of manure. "It even smells like a dump."

"My lead said she was looking for some stone. We'll find out when we find her."

"You really think we'll find her this time?"

"Yeah, I do," Damon said quietly. If Katherine came all the way back to Mystic Falls then it had to be important. He didn't know what they would find but he was certain they would find Katherine or a connection to her. It was the most hope he had for finding his brother in a long time.

"I hope we do too," Jeremy sighed. His reasons for wanting to find Katherine were nothing like Damon's. He wanted to meet the woman that hurt his guardian and he wanted to pay her back for it. He hated her from the very moment Damon had talked about her, but it was the heartbroken, pained expression he had whenever she was discussed that made Jeremy loathed her with the fire of a thousand suns. Nothing would satisfy him more than to see a stake in her heart for everything she put Damon through, and he wanted to be the one to put it there. Not that he ever told Damon how he felt as the vampire made it perfectly clear that he would never meet her.

The blue Camaro Damon had compelled a car salesman to give him for free hummed lowly on the highway as they passed small diners, mom and pop grocery stores and worn motels. The more things he saw, the more unimpressed Jeremy became.

"Why couldn't you have lived in New York City or something," he pouted as he crossed his arms. Damon rolled his eyes at his petulant tone.

"Because New York was too crowded, like it is now."

"Better to be crowded than stranded in the middle of nowhere."

Damon chuckled, "I've spoiled you too much. Living here will be good for you."

"I don't see how."

"You'll make tons of worthwhile friends when you get to school. You won't be completely bored."

"You're _still_ making me go to school?" Jeremy gaped at him.

"Yes Jeremy, because that's what normal children your age do," the vampire rolled his eyes. "We need to keep up appearances."

"I'm not going," he huffed as he looked away. "I'm tired of that bullshit."

"Stop cussing," Damon snapped. "And I don't care if I have to carry you to the classroom and tape you to the seat. You're going to school and it's not up for discussion."

Jeremy glared at him, "This isn't fair. You _know_ that it's a huge waste of time."

"Learning is never a waste of time. Plus you can make new friends. And it's not like I'm putting you back in 9th grade. You'll be in 11th grade like you were in Paris."

"Why can't I just help you find Katherine?"

"You're not allowed to be involved with anything regarding her. Remember what happened the last time? That will never happen again."

Damon's playfulness was gone in an instant. Jeremy winced as he remembered that terrible night. They were in Italy and Damon had gotten a lead on Stefan that was legitimate for him to check out, but he took Jeremy with him in order to catch her before she left town. It wound up being a terrible mistake.

" _C'mon Jer," Damon muttered as he ushered his 7-year-old charge out of the restaurant, a popular place for vampires to congregate, into a dark, narrow alley. He felt dread building in the pit of his stomach and he swung Jeremy into his arms the moment they were outside. The Traveller immediately knew something was wrong and wrapped his arms around his neck._

_They hadn't walked far before they were ambushed by a huge vampire with a ravenous appetite. Jeremy was flung out of his arms and he didn't have time to look for him before the vampire was sticking the wooden handle broken off an axe into his stomach. Damon cried out in pain as he fought the vampire with all his strength. He could hear his little boy sobbing helplessly and he fought even harder._

" _Run Jeremy!" he screamed before he coughed up blood. His nails dug into the vampire's arm so deeply he made him bleed._

" _A vampire with a human boy for a pet. I did not believe the others when they told me," the vampire growled at him in Italian. "Why do you keep him with you?"_

" _None of your damn business," Damon growled back fluently. The vampire smirked._

" _He must be special. His blood must be the reason."_

_Damon snarled as he swiped his nails across his face. The vampire hissed and shoved the wooden beam so hard into him that it came through his back and dug into the ground._

" _Now he is mine," he chuckled darkly. His predatory gaze struck terror into him._

" _Daddy!" Jeremy sobbed in terror as he cowered by a large cardboard box full of trash._

" _Go Jeremy!" he screamed as his attacker's head snapped in his direction. Jeremy didn't even have time to stand before their attacker was lifting him into his arms and he screamed as he clawed at his eyes. Damon cursed him loudly, threatening to rip his head off his shoulders if he didn't put Jeremy down but it was drowned out when the vampire suddenly screamed in pain. His eyes and the skin around them started to burn from Jeremy's hands and he dropped him suddenly to cover them. The little boy scrambled to his guardian and tried, in vain, to pull the wooden stake out of his stomach._

" _Jeremy, you need to go," Damon panted as they struggled with the beam. He cursed at the searing pain when it was able to dislodge it from the ground. "Go hide, now!"_

_The vampire was back suddenly and he used one arm to fling the small boy into the brick wall. Damon felt the air leave his lungs when he heard a sickening crack before he crumpled to the ground._

" _Jeremy!" he screamed in pure terror. The vampire growled as he hovered over his unconscious body for a moment before picking him up, tilting his head to the side and viciously plunging his fangs into his neck._

" _Get away from him!" Damon roared as he pulled the wooden handle out of him with newfound strength. He lunged for the vampire with it in his hand, aiming for his heart, but the other was stronger and took off before he could reach him. He used the wall to steady himself before he took off after them with a snarl of pure fury, determined to kill this monster for even thinking of taking his child._

_He followed them out of the alley and to a wide open field full of weeds and snakes. Damon growled and did his best to run faster as the faster vampire put more and more distance between them. Suddenly he stopped in the middle of the clearing and threw Jeremy a couple feet away from him as he dropped to his knees and started choking. Damon bypassed the fallen vampire when he saw Jeremy and scooped him into his arms._

" _You're okay. You're gonna be okay," his voice shook as he ripped the skin of his wrist and pressed it to Jeremy's mouth. He nearly had a meltdown when it only dribbled down his chin. This had worked before, so why not now?_

_A scream of pain made him turn back to the other vampire. He was clawing at his throat as his skin sizzled and burned. The blood he had just taken from Jeremy was dribbling down his chin as well as from his ears, nose and eyes. Damon watched with morbid fascination and a dropped jaw as the skin around his eyes, mouth and throat burned away before his head twisted almost 180 degrees and he fell to the ground dead._

" _What the hell?" he breathed._

_Something glowing underneath Jeremy's shirt alerted him and he ripped it open to reveal his talisman. The piece with the flame emblem was glowing red, almost as if it was burning. Curious, he grabbed the whole amulet and immediately felt a searing pain in his abdomen. Crying out, he lifted up his shirt with one hand and saw a hole the size of a bullet in his stomach. It was a replica of the fatal wound that had killed him the night he was turned into a vampire._

_He quickly let it go but the pain persisted. He coughed up blood onto his shirt and Jeremy's ripped one. He grew weaker and weaker until he had to lie down and he held the wounded boy close to him. Soon he was gasping for breath as the pain became nearly overwhelming._

" _Jer," he panted as he shook him with the strength he had left. He couldn't let him die, not here. He had to get him to a hospital since his blood wasn't working and he needed to do it now. But his strength was draining from his body and he could barely keep his eyes open, let alone sit up. He was dying all over again._

_Out the corner of his eye, he saw a white light consume the red glow and he turned his head fully to see what was happening. His eyes were heavy lidded but he was able to see the blood on Jeremy's neck slide back into the holes made by the vampire before the holes completely closed. Just before Damon's eyes closed, he saw Jeremy open his and he smiled weakly. His boy would be okay._

" _Day!" Jeremy's voice was the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness._

He'd only been out for five minutes before he shot back up like he'd been jolted with electricity. He hadn't had time to wonder why the pain suddenly disappeared before Jeremy was throwing himself into his arms and he focused on calming his terrified child. After that, he made sure he never took Jeremy near other vampires again and he killed the ones that came near them without a second thought. That night had turned him into the overprotective, paranoid father he was now.

"You make sure you keep that necklace on. I don't know what the hell it did to me that night but it saved your life," Damon told him.

"Yeah, yeah, I won't take it off," Jeremy sighed. "I doubt I'll even need it. Nothing will happen to me here."

 _Famous last words_ , the vampire thought wryly. He had a nagging feeling that Jeremy was going to get into more trouble than he knew.

They passed the local park in the middle of town where families lounged lazily and children played merrily. Jeremy sighed as he watched them with detached disinterest. This may have been the ideal place to raise a family but it certainly wasn't the place for him. He needed the excitement and adventure the big city had to offer, not a town full of country bumpkins.

"What was Katherine even doing here? How'd you meet her?"

"Back then our house was a boarding house. We would take in people who were traveling for money. Katherine claimed she was an orphan from Georgia and my father bought her sob story and took her in."

"Just like that? He wasn't suspicious of her?" Jeremy's eyebrows rose. Damon shrugged.

"She was a beautiful woman. He had no need to be suspicious."

The Traveller snorted, "Why would anyone need to stop in Mystic Falls, of all places?"

"Some people were just passing through. Others came through to by slaves from my father or some of the other neighboring towns."

"Your family had slaves?" Jeremy said incredulously. The vampire nodded.

"Unfortunately. Most of the wealthy families here did."

Jeremy frowned. He'd learned about American History, every brutal, ugly part of it, and he was always taught that slavery was wrong on every level. It bothered him that his father was the one that told him slavery was wrong yet he and his family participated in it anyway.

"I didn't agree with slavery. I never saw eye to eye with most of what the town believed," he sighed. "My father wanted me to take over the family slave trade but I refused, so he sent me to war instead."

"You fought in the Civil War?"

"For about a week. Then one day we were ambushed and I ran before anyone knew I was gone."

"So you're a deserter."

He chuckled with a nod, "My father wasn't happy at all. He said I brought disgrace to our family name by running away like a coward instead of fighting for my country. I told him he could kiss my ass. That's when he really started hating me."

Jeremy laughed, "He sounds like a dick."

"He was. He never really liked me because of my opinions and beliefs. But Stefan was the perfect son. He gave him everything," Damon's voice turned slightly bitter. "But he wasn't as perfect as he thought he was."

"What do you mean?"

"He had a thing for Katherine's handmaiden, Emily. Back then, blacks and whites weren't allowed to be together publicly so they had to keep it a secret. Only Katherine and I knew and we kept quiet…at least I did," he clenched the steering wheel as anger took over him.

"Did anyone find out?"

"Eventually."

"Did she become a vampire too?"

"No. She died," he said shortly. Jeremy could tell they were heading into a sensitive topic by the tone of his guardian's voice.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. Damon's body relaxed and he sent Jeremy a reassuring smile.

"It was a long time ago. Don't apologize for being curious," he ruffled his hair. "It's just…hard to talk about. Her death shattered Stefan so much he wanted to die too. He would've if he didn't have me. We kept each other sane when the women we loved left us."

Anger filled Jeremy immediately and he cursed Katherine once again. What he wouldn't give to see her in Mystic Falls right now just so he could do _something_ to cause her pain. The bitch definitely deserved it.

The scenery soon changed from having no buildings to a few here and there on either side of the road. They passed a local diner with a few cars parked in the gravel driveway and continued on the road for another ten minutes before reaching what looked like downtown. The old brick buildings and timeless architecture did little to impress Jeremy. He already hated this place and he hadn't even seen where they were living yet.

"Where're we going to live?" he asked as they passed Town Hall.

"My house, if it's still there."

"What if someone's living in it?"

"I'll compel them to leave," Damon smirked. Jeremy rolled his eyes.

"You can't just make someone leave their home. And how are you even going to get in when they own the house?"

"Don't worry, I have a plan."

It was a lie but Jeremy didn't need to know that. The vampire had thought of the possibility that someone could be living there but he didn't see how. He and Stefan were the only children of Giuseppe Salvatore, their father, and they had both left when they were turned. There were no other heirs he knew of but that didn't mean they couldn't exist.

They drove through quiet suburbs with towering trees that were regaining leaves now that spring was starting early. Jeremy's interest was mildly peaked at the houses that started turning into mansions the farther they went. Soon the houses were miles and forests apart. He smiled slightly when he saw a family of deer grazing near the edge of the road.

"Who do you think lives there?" Jeremy asked as they passed a huge mansion that looked to be four stories. The roundabout porch was lined with white pillars and wrought iron that gave it a Colonial America feel, as did the perfectly green grass and trimmed bushes. It was easily the biggest house they came across thus far. Damon shrugged.

"Don't know. That was never there before."

They slowed when they passed what looked like pieces of a house that was torn down years ago. Jeremy frowned when Damon got out of the car and stared at it in disbelief.

"What?"

"This used to be where the Lockwoods lived," he murmured. "Jacob Lockwood was the mayor back then."

"Okay," Jeremy said slowly. "Were they vampires?"

"No. They were werewolves."

He blinked, "What?"

"We never saw them, but there was always a curfew imposed whenever it was the night of the full moon. I remember we would have to be inside before it rose to the highest point in the sky but no one would ever say why."

Jeremy was silent for a few seconds before he started laughing.

"What?"

"Werewolves, Damon? Are you serious?" he chuckled. "Are there fairies and unicorns in Mystic Falls too?"

The vampire smacked him upside the head for his sass.

"There's no such thing as fairies. Everyone knows that," Damon smirked as he scowled. "Although…you might be the closest thing to a fairy I've encountered so far, with all that fancy magic you can do. Almost reminds me of Tinkerbell from that Peter Pan move you were so in love with when you were younger; all you're missing is the wings."

"I am _not_ a fairy!" he said indignantly as he laughed. "My magic does way cooler things than making people fly. And how do you know they don't exist? If vampires, witches and werewolves can then why not?"

"The world has enough supernatural to deal with, don't you think?" he said as they turned down another street with houses that took up acres of land and more forest on the other side of the road.

"Well that's interesting," Damon mused as they came upon a large sign stuck in the ground near the side of the road that said _Salvatore Boarding House this way_. They followed the path, which was lined with the forest on either side, before they came across a fabulous two story mansion with a roundabout driveway and a small fountain in the middle of it. It was a dull brown color with a darker brown outlining the windows and shutters and a grey roof. Jeremy awed at how it wrapped around the driveway. It was easily one of the biggest mansions in the area and it definitely looked like someone lived there.

"This was your house," Jeremy pointed to it. "You lived in _this_ house?"

"It looked much different back then…but yes," he chuckled as he came to a stop behind a black SUV. They got out the car and took a long look around. Birds were singing as they flew from tree to tree and onto the fountain where they took turns drinking. The air was surprisingly humid though it was only February.

"Someone definitely lives here," Jeremy pointed to the car. "So what's the plan?"

"Stay in the car," he shot him a look when he rolled his eyes. "And I really mean it Jeremy. Stay there."

"You don't have a plan, do you?"

Damon gave him a pointed look and he sighed as he got back inside. Once he heard the door lock he was satisfied and he took a better look around. He heard voices inside the house and he narrowed in on them; there were three females and two males. One of them had to be the owner. Hopefully they were the ones that answered the door.

Looking around the front yard, his undead heart stirred as he remembered how he taught Stefan how to play football and how to fight like a man as Katherine and Emily watched them from the stairs. They'd been so young and naïve back then but also so full of hope and life. Every day had been an adventure, a chance to discover something new and wonderful about the bubble of a world they lived in. They had lived a charmed life, he realized, and he almost missed it.

In the excitement of coming back to his hometown, he hadn't fully prepared himself for what would happen when he encountered his maker. Damon wished he could simply get what he wanted from her and put a stake in her heart but he knew he wasn't as strong as that. He wanted an explanation from her. He wanted to know why she had turned him into this creature only to abandon him. He wanted to know why she lied to him, lead him to believe she loved him only to leave him later on. He wanted to know how she could be so cruel and cold when he'd done nothing but love her from day one. Even Stefan had warned him about loving Katherine but he hadn't listened and he paid a hefty price for it.

When he reached the large mahogany front door, he took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. The voices inside paused and one of the women volunteered to answer it. Damon smirked as the footsteps came closer. It would be entirely too easy to charm his way inside. It was almost as if he was meant to have his house back.

The door opened and Damon felt the world fall from under him. His jaw dropped as he stared at his long-lost lover and felt breathless, like a horrible joke was being played on him. She threw him a beaming smile and tossed her straight long hair over one shoulder.

"Hi! Are you here to see Sheila?" she asked. Damon stared at her in confusion, anger and alarm. Who the hell was Katherine trying to fool?

"Wh-What?" he choked out. Her smile slowly slid from her face.

"Sheila Bennett? She runs the boarding house with Zach Salvatore?" she gestured to the house. "You know this is the boarding house, right?"

The vampire's mind was spinning into overdrive. This woman clearly wasn't Katherine, so who the hell was she? And why did they look exactly alike? And who the hell was Zach Salvatore?

"I…yes, I'm looking for the…owner of the house…for a room," he sputtered, trying to recover from his gaping. "Is she—are they here?"

"Yeah, I'll go get them. Come in!"

She left without looking to see if he followed. Damon took a deep breath and tried to move forward but was blocked by the barrier. Cursing, he turned around to see Jeremy gaping at him through the window on the driver's side. He heard his heart pounding and he knew he was just as confused.

"Can I help you?"

Damon turned back around and was nearly rendered speechless again. The woman he was staring at now was older but she looked good for her age. Bobbed brown curls almost touched her neck and green eyes stared at him with curiosity. Rings adorned her fingers and necklaces were roped around her neck, resting on a purple summer dress. She fixed him with a curious, suspicious look and Damon felt a sense of déjà vu. She looked hauntingly familiar.

"Are you Sheila?" he forced out as normally as possible.

"Yes," she nodded curtly. "Do you need a room?"

"Yes…for my nephew and I."

"For how long?"

 _Damn, hadn't thought that far_ , he grimaced.

"I'm not sure. See…we just moved back to town today and we haven't seen any houses for sale we've particularly liked and the apartments around the area are so expensive. So one of the landlords told us about this place," he gave her a small grin. It grew at her surprised expression.

"Well, you've definitely come to the right place for a cheap room," she pushed the door open wider. "One room or two?"

"A room with two beds," he leaned in. "He gets into trouble easily, so I want to keep an eye on him."

She chuckled, "Children do find trouble in the strangest of places. Well, please come in. I'll have my granddaughter go through the room and clean it out."

Panic briefly gripped him and he looked back at the car. What if she wasn't the owner of the house? What if this Zach Salvatore was?

"Let me get my nephew," he smiled sweetly as he jogged back to the car. Jeremy opened the door to the driver's side, still looking surprised.

"Was that Katherine?" he hissed frantically when Damon was close enough to hear him.

"No. I don't know who the hell that is," he breathed. "I think one of my descendants owns the house. Someone named Zach Salvatore."

"What?" Jeremy gaped. "I thought you and Stefan were the last in your bloodline?"

"We are. But we might not be the only ones."

"Where is he?"

"Inside, possibly," he pinched the bridge of his nose. This hadn't gone the way he wanted to at all. He felt as if he and Jeremy were just dropped in some freaky Twilight Zone universe where some girl wore the face of his maker and someone possibly from his bloodline still had roots in his hometown. He thought getting into his house would've been the easy part.

"Well what the hell do we do?" Jeremy whispered worriedly. "They'll think it's weird if I come in and you don't!"

"Just be cool Jer. Don't do anything out of the ordinary."

He popped the trunk from the inside of the car and pulled out their two suitcases. They had left their house in Paris as it was for when they returned. Damon thought that might be happening sooner than he thought if this didn't end well.

He waited until Jeremy grabbed his suitcase and they walked to the front door. The Traveller kept shooting him troubled glances and Damon resisted smacking him upside the head for being so obvious. Jeremy was a terrible liar as it was; he was going to give them away for certain. Thankfully none of them had super hearing because his heart was pounding hard with nerves like he had just run a marathon.

Sheila wasn't standing by the door when he returned and Damon was thankful. He told Jeremy to walk ahead of him and he crossed the threshold of the door with no issue. The vampire swallowed as he took an unnecessary deep breath and tried to step through. He gasped when he was able to pass and he stood beside Jeremy in the middle of a long hallway.

"It worked," Jeremy peered at him through big eyes.

"Ah, guests!" a man's voice came from the basement as he walked up the stairs. He, along with another man and young woman entered through the rickety wooden door and he closed it behind him. "You'll be staying with us?"

"Yes," he stuck out his hand. "Damon Moreaux."

"Zach Salvatore," he gave him a charming grin as he gripped his hand. Damon held back a hiss when it burned him and he tried not to flinch away, instead gripping tighter. He looked over the man that shared his last name; sandy blonde hair, small brown eyes and scruffy facial hair. He looked nothing like either him or Stefan. Maybe it was only a coincidence.

"Grayson Gilbert," the other man, a clean-cut brunette with a charming demeanor stuck out his hand and he shook it hard, hoping he didn't notice how his hand was cut up and burning. "You new in town?"

He nodded, "We've been looking at houses and apartments online but none of them were the right price. Someone told us we could stay here until we figured it out."

"You've come to the right place," Zach grinned. "You can stay here for as long as you'd like. Our room prices are cheap and you get breakfast and dinner five out of seven days of the week. Better deal than any apartment."

"I'll say," Damon forced a smile back. He was relieved when he let go of his hand and he clenched it to hide the burns and blood he saw on it. They had been touching vervain plants, an herb that was known to hurt vampires from even the slightest contact. That had to be the only explanation.

"Oh! This is Bonnie, Sheila's granddaughter. She helps us run the boarding house," Zach introduced the young woman on his left. Damon was nearly rendered speechless for the third time that night when he saw how beautiful she was. Eyes the color of emeralds were the first things he saw; beautiful green eyes that felt like they were piercing his soul. A cute nose, full lips and a slightly pointed chin followed. His breath caught when she wet her bottom lip and he felt shivers go up his spine; he'd had the pleasure of bedding many beautiful women long before he took Jeremy in but she was really stunning to him. She too looked familiar.

"Hi," she smiled shyly as she held out her hand. "I'm Bonnie."

"Damon," he smiled as he shook her hand quickly, cringing inwardly at the burn. He could hear her heart rate pick up speed when she blushed. Her brown bangs fell into her eyes and he started to raise his hand to push them back before he caught himself.

"This is my nephew Jeremy," he nudged the Traveller forward. He introduced himself and shook her hand, but only Damon noticed when he froze and he held his breath. He frowned but he kept his eyes on the others.

"It's nice to meet you both," she looked between them curiously, "Where are you from again?"

"Richmond." "Paris," they said at the same time. They shared a look and Damon forced out a laugh.

"We've been in Paris for the past few years but we're originally from Richmond," he covered smoothly.

"Wow, you've travelled far. And to Mystic Falls of all places," Grayson chuckled. The Katherine-look-a-like bounded back into the room and stood by him. Both Jeremy and Damon became a little unnerved by her presence.

"Elena, this is Damon Moreaux and his nephew Jeremy," he introduced. Damon forced another smile to his face as he shook her hand with his uninjured one. When Jeremy didn't move to greet her he nudged him forward with his shoulder.

"Don't be shy," he muttered, giving him a warning glare. Jeremy set his jaw and shook her hand hard. Katherine—Elena—didn't notice his stiff demeanor.

"Mr. Moreaux, if you'll follow me to the dining room so we can get your information," Sheila returned. He and Jeremy followed her through the cozy living room where a roaring fire was going. Two worn but comfortable looking couches surrounded the fireplace, a couch table behind the largest one held a vase full of wildflowers. Their sweet scent made Damon wrinkle his nose.

He couldn't help the awe he felt at how much different his house was from when he left in 100 years ago. It had been torn down and rebuilt; he could tell that much as there wasn't a single thing in there he remembered from the 1800s. The furniture was more modern, the paint on the walls fresher, the wood polished. He could see how it was being used as a boarding house, though he didn't think that would still be the case.

"You can leave your stuff by the door. Y'all want anything to drink?" she asked as she opened the refrigerator and pulled out a pitcher of lemonade. She poured them both a glass and they thanked her before drinking. Damon coughed when he felt the sting and burn of vervain going down his throat and he quickly set the glass on the counter before nearly doubling over. Jeremy watched him in alarm, eyes shifting to Sheila but she had busied herself in the corner of the kitchen where a small table sat with a printer and other files.

"What's wrong?" he hissed as Damon as the vampire tried to breathe through the pain that was now in his stomach.

"Vervain," he hissed back. Jeremy's eyes went wide.

"Seriously?"

"I need you to sign these—are you alright?" she frowned at Damon's hunched form. He coughed one more time, nearly panicking when he felt blood come up, and nodded with a tight-lipped smile before going to the sink to spit it out. He turned the water on and chanced touching it, expecting to be burned with vervain and was pleasantly surprised when he wasn't. Good to know he would be able to take a shower.

"Went down the wrong way," he gave her a charming smile, hoping there was no blood visible from his mouth. She nodded in understanding.

"I just need your uncle to sign a couple things before I have Bonnie show you to your room," she pushed the papers to him with a pen. Damon quickly skimmed the papers and signed each one with his scribbled signature. He hadn't bothered to read any of it, as he was too preoccupied with trying to get upstairs.

"Bonnie!" Sheila called into the living room. "Where is that girl?"

Damon could hear her outside with the Katherine-look-a-like and her father saying goodbye. He distinctly heard the Katherine-mirage tell Bonnie that he was sexy and he smirked when she agreed. It really was too bad that her grandmother lived at the boarding house. He didn't think she would appreciate it if he pursued her granddaughter after letting them stay here for the foreseeable future.

By the time the younger woman came into the room Damon had composed himself enough to look normal. He shot Jeremy a glare when he kept sending him obvious glances and he hoped he conveyed that he would be fine until they made it to the privacy of their room.

"Follow me," she gives them another shy smile. Damon couldn't help staring at her behind when she turned around and he licked his lips unconsciously. The way it poked out through her tight jeans had him clearing his throat to avoid dirty thoughts.

They grabbed their suitcases and followed her to the second floor. The room she led them to was a decent size, large enough to fit two queen sized beds, a desk, and two small armoires on either side of a large window. A bookcase stocked full of hulking books sat in the corner by the desk and a small lamp sitting on the edge of it illuminated that part of the room.

"I cleaned it as much as I could," Bonnie said as they walked in. "Sorry if it's dusty. The maid will come by tomorrow to clean it."

"It looks fine to me," Damon said with another charming smile. He held back a smirk when he heard her heart starting to race.

"Good," she smiled back. Her bottom lip was back between her teeth and the vampire really wished she wouldn't do that when _he_ wasn't allowed to.

"Well…goodnight," she said after a brief moment of silence. They bid her goodnight just before she shut the door. The moment she was gone Damon sped to the bathroom and coughed up the blood that had come up from the vervain.

"Are you okay?" Jeremy turned the light on, illuminating a decent sized crème colored bathroom with grey tiled counters and a stand-in shower with glass surrounding it. Damon nodded as he spit out the last of the blood and turned the faucet for the cold water. He swished it around his mouth once before spitting it out and shutting it off.

"They know about vampires. There's no other explanation for the vervain," the vampire sighed as he leaned against the counter. "We're going to have to be extra careful."

"Why the hell does that girl look exactly like Katherine?" Jeremy finally asked the question he'd been dying to know the answer to. "How is that possible if she had no children?"

"She must've had at least one. There's no other explanation for it," he sighed. He felt a headache coming on with all that they had discovered today. He didn't know how it was possible that someone could look exactly like the woman he loved but he could hardly fathom it. But he wanted to know more about this Zach Salvatore that was living in his old home and how exactly he came to be here and why there was vervain on his hands.

"Day…coming here might've been a bad idea," Jeremy said softly. The vampire frowned at the fear on his face. "I couldn't tell you down there because they were all around but…we shouldn't stay here too long."

"What's wrong?"

"When I shook that Bonnie girl's hand…I felt her power," Jeremy lowered his voice even more. "She's a witch."

His jaw dropped slightly. Now that he thought about it, he realized that Sheila and her granddaughter had the last name of Bennett too, just like Emily. But Emily died before she could have children, or so he had thought. Was it possible that she and Stefan had a child before she died? His brother would've told him something like that…unless he didn't know.

He cursed lightly as he hit the counter. "Do you think she knows what you are?"

He shook his head.

"What if they find out?" his eyes darted to the door. "They already know about the vampires, so what if they know about the Travellers? Witches wants us dead more than anyone else."

"You know I would never let anyone hurt you," Damon gripped the back of his neck. "Don't panic. You're going to be fine."

He nodded, though Damon could still tell he was terrified at being discovered. The vampire had the feeling that they weren't the violent type, so they had little to worry about. But he couldn't imagine how Jeremy felt being in the house of a species that's wanted him and his people dead for thousands of years. It was like a human being in a house full of vampires.

"The minute we find Katherine and whatever the hell she's looking for, we'll get out of here," Damon murmured. "But I need you to do something for me."

"What?"

"I want you to get to know those two girls. Find out everything you can about them," his lips quirked when Jeremy let out a groan. "It'll give you an incentive to actually stay in school this time."

"No," he snapped. "I said I would go to school but I'm _not_ making friends with them."

"C'mon Jer, it won't even be that hard. Bonnie already lives here and Elena probably comes here all the time. I want to know what Elena knows about Katherine, if she knows anything at all."

"Why can't you do it?"

Damon's eyebrow rose, "How do you think it would look if I was around two teenage girls all day? You're closer to their age and you'll be in school with them. You have more opportunities to talk to them than I do."

"Did you completely forget the part where one of them is a witch that will kill me if she discovers what I am?" he asked incredulously. "I can't believe you'd risk my life like that!"

"She's not going to kill you. She doesn't even know what you are," the vampire rolled his eyes. "You're going to be fine as long as you don't tell anyone."

"Wasn't planning on it," he muttered. He really loathed the idea of talking to either one of those girls again, especially the Katherine-look-a-like. The last thing he wanted to do was spend his days doing was listening to the mindless chatter of teenage girls.

"You said you wanted to help me find Katherine," Damon's lips quirked into a smile as his disgruntled groan. "If you do this, the sooner we find Katherine, she tells me where Stefan is and we'll leave."

"Whatever," he glared at his guardian as he stormed out of the bathroom. Damon chuckled as he threw his suitcase on the bed and started taking his clothes out. Jeremy could be so dramatic sometimes and as hard as he tried to be serious about it and empathetic to his adolescent struggles, he couldn't help but find them humorous.

"This will be a good opportunity for you to make some real friends," he chuckled as he sat on his bed. Jeremy muttered unintelligible things under his breath as he shoved his clothes in the drawers. Damon mashed his lips together to hide his amusement as he started unpacking as well. Despite all the twists their day had taken, it could have gone a lot worse than this and he was thankful it didn't. He _knew_ that they were on the right track this time. They were closer to Katherine than ever before and in turn, closer to his brother. He just needed the break he was looking for.

"If I do this, you better let me practice my magic all I want when we get out of here and you better not complain about it," Jeremy grumbled irritably as he pulled on his pajamas. "And I get to choose the next place we live if we're not looking for Katherine anymore because we're never living in a place like this ever again."

"Deal," Damon laughed as he changed into his own pajamas, a pair of worn sweatpants, and turned off the lights. He watched in the dark as Jeremy gathered his toiletries and disappeared into the bathroom.

* * *

Jeremy was entirely too comfortable the next morning to get up when he heard Damon moving around their room. When he opened his bleary eyes he was confused as to why he wasn't staring at his bedroom ceiling back in Paris before he remembered. He pulled the heavy blankets over his head and sighed as he closed his eyes again.

"Uh-Uh. Get up," he heard Damon say before the blankets were ripped away from him. He whined as he reached for them again but Damon had practically pulled them off the bed.

"What time is it?" he groaned as the vampire threw the curtains open and allowed sunlight to fill the room. He buried his head into his pillow with a loud groan. "Seriously Day?"

"Seriously Jer," he laughed. "Get up. You have plans for today."

"Like what?"

"Like going with Elena and Bonnie and their friends to the Annual Mystic Falls High Timberwolves Fundraiser Event," he chuckled when Jeremy raised his mused head and stared at him in total confusion.

"Timber—what?"

"It's a football fundraiser. I volunteered you to go at breakfast this morning," he said cheerily. It made Jeremy want to punch him in the face.

He scowled, "I could give a rat's ass about football."

"Well today, you're going to support it. And if you don't stop cussing, I'll make you join the team," Damon pinched his cheek and he laughed when he pulled away with a frustrated groan.

"I'm so not in the mood for this," he grumbled sleepily as he swung his legs around the side of the bed. The clock on the nightstand between him and Damon read 11:19 a.m. "What the hell are you going to be doing all day?"

"Job hunting. I'll swing by the fundraiser later. Sheila thought it would be good for the girls to show you around while I'm enrolling you in school," he laughed at the dark look Jeremy gave him. "Bonnie and Elena are one year above you, but I'll do my best to put you in some of their classes."

"How awesome for me," he said flatly as he rummaged through his drawers and pulled out a couple shirts and ripped jeans. His guardian was too happy about this situation and it only further irritated him. No good could come from it in his opinion, especially when Bonnie and her grandmother discovered what he was.

By noon he was ready and his attitude had improved marginally when Sheila handed him a mug of coffee. Elena showed up twenty minutes later and Jeremy found himself in the backseat of her family's black SUV with Bonnie in the front seat.

"So Jeremy, right?" Elena looked at him through the rear-view mirror. "You said you moved here from Paris."

"Yeah."

"What's it like over there?"

 _A hell of a lot better than here_ , he wanted to snap. Instead he forced a smile to his face and said, "It's…touristy. A lot of people are there all the time so it's crowded."

"I've always wanted to go to Paris," Bonnie sighed dreamily. "But is it true that the streets are really dirty?"

"Yeah, they're not as clean as they want you to believe they are."

"We'll go someday. We have to see Paris fashion week," Elena nudged Bonnie's arm. "That's Caroline's life-long dream."

"She's our other best friend," Bonnie told him. "You'll meet her at the fundraiser. She's really nice."

"Great," his smile seemed permanently forced to his face and it was making his cheeks hurt.

The fundraiser was being held at the park across the street from the high-school, which looked a little bigger than the one he attended in Paris. There was a school bus parked in the middle of the parking lot with a multicolored painted sign that said _Timberwolves Annual Fundraiser_ and with two drawings of paw prints on either side. People were scattered everywhere, some sitting at booths, some standing behind the tables to serve food and drinks, some laying on blankets and towels in the middle of the park as they enjoyed the sun and their food. Jeremy took it all in and was disappointed at the lack of excitement he felt. Was this all he was going to have as entertainment in this place?

"Elena! Bonnie!" a boy with blonde hair waved at them where he was standing by a sign that said _The Mystic Grill_. The girls waved back and started walking towards him. Jeremy followed behind dutifully.

"Matt, hey!" Bonnie wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "This is Jeremy. He just moved here with his uncle yesterday night."

"I'm Matt Donovan," he stuck out his hand and Jeremy shook it. "Good to meet you man."

"Likewise," he smiled. Matt seemed like an easy going guy. He could see himself being friends with him.

"Have you seen Care?" Elena asked as she pulled down her skirt. Jeremy just realized that Bonnie and Elena were wearing the exact same outfit, a cheerleading uniform with grey sweaters that said _Mystic Falls Pep and Cheer_ on the back. Even their hair was done the same, a ponytail with a red and white ribbon wrapped around it.

"She's probably over there flirting with that Connor kid," Matt pointed to a large group that Jeremy took to be the football team with a couple cheerleaders sprinkled in here and there. "She's been all over him all week."

"You sound a little jealous Matt," Elena teased. He rolled his eyes good naturedly.

"We're not even together. We just had a brief thing and it's over now. It was a mutual break-up."

"Uh-huh. That's not what she says," she giggled.

Jeremy tuned out the rest of the conversation when his eyes fell on the boy that was in the middle of the football crowd. He was ridiculously handsome with his broad shoulders covered by a tight blue shirt, jet black hair, full lips, straight nose and fierce brown eyes that were staring right back at him. He blushed and looked away, hoping he didn't catch him staring for too long. When he chanced another look back, he was telling something to his friends before he was walking in their direction. The young Traveller's heart pounded as he came closer to them and he could see just how thick his arms were. Try as he might, he was unable to look away from him as he came closer and closer until he was right in front of them.

"Hey guys," he smiled at him. Jeremy smiled back, unable to get his voice to work. It disappeared when Bonnie's arms slid around his neck and she kissed him on the lips.

"Hey," she murmured as their noses brushed together. The smile he gave her made Jeremy want to light something on fire, like her hair. He clenched his fists by his side and tried to reign in his emotions to keep his magic under control.

"Tyler, this is Jeremy. He's staying at the boarding house with his uncle until they find a house," Bonnie pulled away from him to introduce them. "Jeremy, this is my boyfriend Tyler."

"Hey," he stuck out his hand for Tyler to shake. The moment their skin touched, Jeremy felt like he'd brushed against electricity. His hand was huge, and warm, and firm, and huge and he could think about nothing else as he stared into his gorgeous brown eyes. He didn't even notice that he was causing the wind to pick up or the trees to shake.

"Hey," Tyler's deep voice rumbled back and Jeremy felt his knees get a little weak. He never really gave much thought to his sexuality but he'd always found the girls in Europe more attractive than guys. He'd even had a fling or two at his school in Paris but it never was anything more than a few stolen kisses and some quick chest fondling behind the school gymnasium. And none of them invoked the breathless, butterflies-in-stomach feeling that this Tyler kid was making him feel right now, especially when his grip tightened on his hand.

"There you guys are!"

Jeremy jerked out of his stupor and took his hand back hastily. A girl with her blonde hair pulled back just like Elena's and Bonnie's was standing beside Tyler now with her arm around his shoulders. She enveloped everyone in hugs and gave Matt a curt nod before turning to him.

"You must be the one with the hot uncle," she grinned as she stuck out her hand. "I'm Caroline."

"Jeremy," he chuckled. She sounded like a total diva.

"Is he coming? I want to see what this guy looks like. I couldn't picture it when you were explaining him to me yesterday," she turned to her girlfriends as they flushed, avoiding Jeremy's amused gaze. He could only imagine what Damon would say about his fast growing reputation.

"Hot uncle?" Tyler's eyebrow rose and he looked at his girlfriend. She laughed.

"He's got nothing on you babe," Bonnie murmured. They met halfway for a kiss and Jeremy looked away as he stifled a frustrated groan. He _really_ couldn't wait to get out of Mystic Falls.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for such a long wait! I'm trying to do better, but being a senior in college is not easy :( regardless, if anyone is still reading this story or any of my other ones, your patience is appreciated!

“Can I help you sir?” the receptionist asked Damon breathlessly as he stepped into the administration office of Mystic Falls High. Her heartrate picked up as she looked him up and down and he smirked. He was a little surprised to see the school open on a Saturday but found it to be a great opportunity to do what he needed to do. On the drive to the school as Shelia directed him, he wondered how he was going to falsify Jeremy’s grades so as to place him in the same classes as Bonnie and Elena. He needed Jeremy and his stories to be as believable as possible, which meant every detail, even one as small as his grades, had to be perfect.

“My nephew and I just moved here yesterday and I need to enroll him,” he leaned against the counter, fixing her with a smoldering stare he knew would convince her to do _anything_. “You think you could help me with that?”

“Of course,” she sat up straighter, her breasts that were already sitting pretty due to her tight shirt popping up just a little bit more. Nearly black wavy hair spilled down her shoulders to one side, exposing her pretty slender neck. Damon’s eyes narrowed in on it, his ears full of the rhythmic pulse he heard before he rushed to the side of the desk and entered the work space.

“What—?” she started to ask as he trapped her to her chair with his arms. Leaning over her, he stared into her wide brown eyes and watched as they dilated under his compulsion.

“You’re not on vervain. Good,” he smirked. “What’s your name?”

“Janice,” she replied robotically.

“Well, Janice, if you do this for me…I’ll treat you to something special,” he flashed his fangs at her as he grinned. “Now, I need you to create a new transcript for me.”

Ten minutes later, Jeremy had completed his junior year and was placed in all senior classes with either Bonnie or Elena. He would hate him, he thought with a chuckle as he had him placed in an advanced placement English Literature class, but he figured Jeremy would get over it eventually.

“Thank you Janice,” he purred as he logged out of her computer for her. “What time are you supposed to be off?”

“Two.”

Damon looked at the clock that sat above the entrance to the office; the time read 1:35.

“I’m sure no one will miss you,” he murmured slyly as he pulled her to her feet and into his arms. He only just let his fangs emerge from his gums when he heard footsteps coming. Cursing, he pushed her back into her seat.

“I was never here,” he muttered quickly to her. She nodded just as the double doors opened and he darted out of sight to a small alcove on the other side of the room near the door to the principal’s office.

“Hey Janice,” he heard a male’s voice greet. “What’re you still doing here on a Saturday?”

“Hey Mason,” she greeted cheerfully. “I’m always here on Saturday mornings. You know that.”

“That doesn’t mean you should be.”

Damon looked around the corner and saw a man dressed in a simple black shirt and dark-wash jeans leaning against the counter as he had done moments earlier. His eyes narrowed when he turned his head slightly to the side and he was able to catch his whole profile. There was something hauntingly familiar about this man too, like there was when he first looked at Shelia and then Bonnie.

“I just wanted to get those extra sodas from Principal Weber’s office. The football team is going through them pretty fast.”

“They should be in his office. The door’s unlocked.”

Damon cursed his luck when he saw the principal’s name on the door he was hiding by. Gently turning the handle, he slipped inside and closed the door quietly before sliding into the small closet he saw near a potted plant. Seconds later, he heard Mason open the door and step in. The vampire prayed that the sodas weren’t in his current hiding location.

He watched the man through the small crack in the door and held his breath as he did so. He immediately went to the principal’s desk and reached underneath it, grabbing the 12-pack of sodas with one hand. Damon’s eyes narrowed slightly when he saw how effortlessly he held the heavy packs in each hand and set them on the desk. He stopped and turned his head towards the closet door with slightly narrowed eyes.

“Weird,” he muttered as he approached the door. Damon shrank back into the darkness of the closet as Mason approached it. Instead of opening the door, he pressed it shut. Damon continued holding his breath as he heard him take what he needed and shut the door behind him. Only then did the vampire let out a breath he didn’t need to hold.

Emerging from the closet—and relieved that he hadn’t been locked in—he slipped out of the principal’s office and found Janice as he’d left her, sitting at her computer. Licking his lips, he was reminded of his need to feed when his eyes fell to Janice’s neck.

“Oh!” she jumped with a startled laugh when he reappeared in front of her. “I didn’t know you were still here!”

He smirked as his eyes dilated and hers did too.

“I think you should take off early today and come with me,” he purred. Janice smirked, quickly shutting down her computer and grabbing her purse from under the desk. When she came around to stand in front of him, Damon noticed her knee-length dress, her long, slender brown legs that were accentuated by her black pumps and her slender waist. He slipped an arm around her waist and placed a hand on her behind, grinning when she gasped and pressed herself into him more. She gazed at him with dark brown eyes through her thick lashes and he imagined Bonnie looking at him in a similar fashion.

 _No_ , he berated himself before he let that thought continue. He wasn’t getting involved, especially not since Jeremy said she was a witch. He couldn’t afford to get involved with someone that could possibly want Jeremy, or himself, dead if what they were was discovered. But it was hard to ignore the pull he felt towards her, the want to be near her, to know everything about her. It was something he hadn’t felt since Katherine left him.

 _You always want what you can’t have_ , his conscious grumbled, sounding suspiciously like Stefan.

“So where’re we going hot stuff?” Janice purred as he led her out of the office and down the hallway lined with trophies and pictures of students that participated in extracurricular activities. “I don’t even know your name.”

“It’s not important,” he muttered as his eyes scanned through the pictures. He stopped when he saw a picture of the cheer team for the current year and immediately found Bonnie’s smiling face. Her long curls were pulled back in a high pony-tail, baring all white teeth and laying on her side in the very front of the group, her head resting in her hand and her other on her hip. His smirk softened into a small smile.

“What do you know about this girl?” he pulled Janice closer to him and pointed to Bonnie’s picture.

Janice smiled fondly. “Bonnie Bennett. She lives with her grandma at the old boarding house since her other house burned down and her parents left. She’s very smart. Everyone loves her. Even Mayor Lockwood has said good things about her and he’s a hard man to impress. But that’s probably because she’s dating his son.”

“Lockwood?” he blurted before he could stop himself.

She pointed to a boy in the picture next to the one they were looking at, a picture of the current football team. Damon’s eyes narrowed and felt dread build in the pit of his stomach. The Lockwoods were still in town, which meant there were still werewolves in Mystic Falls. It was the last thing he wanted to hear.

“His dad is the mayor?”

She nodded. “He became mayor after the previous mayor, his wife, passed away,” she said solemnly.

“How?”

“Animal attack. It almost killed her son Tyler too but he managed to get away. Very sad,” she said lowly. Damon’s brow furrowed as he stared at Tyler’s picture for a moment longer before he led Janice down the row. Animal attack was the excuse many used when covering up a vampire attack, but Mystic Falls was surrounded by woods so an animal attack was also likely. Still, he felt there was more to the former mayor’s murder than that.

When they got to the car, Damon all but threw Janice into the back seat. She giggled as he immediately attacked her neck with harsh kisses and small nips before he gripped her chin and used his compulsion.

“Don’t make a sound,” he muttered lowly as his eyes turned black and veins appeared underneath them. Only when she nodded in understanding did he sink his fangs into her tender brown skin. She gasped but made no move to push him away, instead bringing him closer. Her blood was good, sweet even, but he couldn’t help but wonder how Bonnie tasted. How _all_ of her tasted.

Stefan’s voice in his head reminded him once again how bad of an idea that was.

Pushing thoughts of Bonnie to the back of his mind, he drank his fill of blood until he heard her heart rate starting to slow. Pulling away gently, he licked the wound closed and laid her sagging body against the car door. She breathed deeply as she caught her breath. Damon sighed as he savored the blood on his lips. He already wanted more. She was delicious.

“Get in the front seat. We have places to go,” he smirked at her after another moment. When they were situated in the front seat and the top of the Camaro was dropped, they took off from the school parking lot at top speed.

* * *

Jeremy tried hard not to glower at Bonnie and Tyler sitting across from him on the picnic blanket they were eating lunch on, but it was proving to be impossible with each kiss and smile and hug they shared. Every time she stared at him with her stupid grin and he ate it up like an idiot he wanted to send her to the pits of hell, which he always felt guilty for thinking afterwards. They’d all treated him well so far; there was no need for hatred.

The past few hours hadn’t been as terrible as he’d been expecting, though the fundraiser itself was awfully boring. The girls and their friends had welcomed him with open arms and dozens of questions about his life and he played into their fascination, charming them with tales of adventures in Paris during summer and the beauty of the city during winter. Often, he felt Tyler’s eyes upon him and he had to force himself to not only speak to him. The feeling of their weight warmed his chest in a way that confounded him.

“So Jeremy, you play football?” Matt asked next to him. He shook his head.

“I’ve never really been into sports. Art is more my thing.”

“Something you two have in common,” Bonnie wrapped her arm around Tyler’s neck from her place in his lap. “He won second place in the talent show last year for a picture he drew.”

“It wasn’t that good,” he immediately countered. His bashfulness did something funny to Jeremy’s insides and he swooned.

“I’m sure it was great,” he sighed with a soft smile. He caught himself after another moment and coughed, hoping that no one caught his moment of…whatever it was.

“Are you kidding Ty? You’re _amazing_ at art. I can’t even draw a straight circle,” Bonnie half complained, half laughed at him. “I’m artistically disabled.”

“And I love you for it,” Tyler teased as he pressed a kiss to her neck. Jeremy’s stomach jolted sharply at the word and he clenched his fists together.

“Ugh, will you two stop being such a perfect couple?” Elena grumbled playfully as she watched them. “It’s making me feel bad.”

“They can’t help themselves Elena. Just ignore them,” Caroline stuck her tongue out at them. “Just because we’re not lucky enough to find our soulmates at 17 doesn’t mean we should be bitter about them finding theirs.”

A sudden gust of wind blew past all of them and rattled the tents that covered the food so much their legs shook deep in the ground.

“What is the deal with this weather?” the blonde cheerleader grumbled as she grabbed her thick grey sweater with the Mystic Falls High School emblem on the front and covered only her arms. “It’s almost summer!”

“Spring just started,” Matt said dryly. Jeremy chuckled as the blonde shot him a glare. He’d learned through observation rather through word of mouth that Matt and Caroline had a complicated relationship, one that the rest of their friends were desperately hoping they would fix soon.

“It better not be like this for the party tonight,” Caroline looked over her shoulder and all around her before leaning in closer to her friends. “I got three bottles of Vodka in my trunk. I couldn’t sneak anymore.”

“It’s fine. More than half the football team was able to get some,” Tyler shrugged. “We should have enough.”

“Party?” Jeremy asked.

“In the woods after curfew, since my dad is having a party at The Grill because of the fundraiser and he cut it off to anyone under 21. It’s safe,” Tyler explained with a crooked smile. “You should come.”

Their eyes met. Dark brown met light and Jeremy felt that lost sensation taking over again. He didn’t understand what it was about this boy that made him feel like _this_. He couldn’t even put into words what he felt when he was around him but it was strong enough to frighten him. He’d barely just met him, yet he knew there was something intriguing about him that captivated his attention.

“I’ll be there,” the Traveler nodded automatically. The smile Tyler gave him made his heart pound and stomach flutter.

Matt shook his head. “I still don’t think having this party is a good idea, especially since—”

“Shh!” Caroline hissed as she smacked his arm, earning a glare from him. “Don’t bring that up now!”

“What?” Jeremy stared at them in confusion. The group grew solemn quickly as they looked at each other. Finally Bonnie sighed.

“This woman was found in the woods two weeks ago. The sheriff and the town council set a curfew for everyone until they find what killed her.”

“How’d she die?”

“Animal attack,” Matt muttered with a furrowed brow. “It’s rare for it to happen but…in the past couple of years it’s been happening more.”

“I still think the whole thing is a load of shit,” Caroline snorted, earning shocked looks from the rest of her friends. “Think about it! What kind of animal drains all the blood out of your body but leaves no visible open wounds? It has to be some satanic ritual voodoo magic thing. Would your grandma know Bon? I thought she was into all that stuff.”

Jeremy’s brown eyes moved to Bonnie, his heart now pounding for a different reason. He licked his lips as he became more aware of his surroundings, feeling the power of the ground beneath him and the wind around him.

“She doesn’t do rituals that involve killing people,” she frowned. “The kinds of practices Grams does are more spiritual than anything.”

“Bonnie’s grandmother thinks she’s a witch. She told Bonnie she was one too,” Elena murmured to Jeremy.

“Is she?”

“Of course not. That stuff isn’t real!” Elena laughed. “Grams is a believer though. She always has been.”

Jeremy forced a laugh as well. He relaxed some when he realized that none of them had any idea about the supernatural world. And he planned on keeping it that way if he could help it.

“But I swear she can see the future,” Bonnie lowered her voice. “A week ago, she told me that I would get some unexpected news from someone I knew yesterday and then my Dad calls me to tell me he’s met someone. You know how my Dad is. He hasn’t dated since my mom left.”

“Freaky,” Elena shivered. “I wonder if she can tell me if I’m ever going to meet a decent guy.”

“She can’t do it on command. She says that things just come to her. She can’t control what she sees,” Bonnie smiled at Jeremy. “I hope we’re not freaking you out too much. My Grams really isn’t a witch. She just likes to think she is.”

“Not at all,” he forced another smile. Damon wasn’t going to take this well. They knew nothing about witches or vampires, which he suspected was the cause of that woman’s death. They knew nothing about anything, which meant they didn’t know anything about Katherine either. He sighed inwardly; so much for a hasty trip.

“Oh, who is _that_?” Caroline moved from her stomach to her knees when she caught sight of two figures walking towards them. Jeremy ducked his head and nearly laughed when he saw the vampire approaching with a woman on his arm, making every head turn that passed him. He saw Bonnie sit a little straighter as her eyes locked on him and his irrational anger flared up again. Why was she looking at him when she was seated in her perfect boyfriend’s lap?

_Perfect? You’ve known him for all of one hour._

_Shut-up._

“That’s my uncle,” the young Traveler stood and brushed the grass from his jeans. “I’ll be right back.”

“That’s the hot uncle?” he heard Caroline ask incredulously and he chuckled as he met him halfway. Damon grinned, his arm around the woman’s shoulders and playing with the end of her long white scarf wrapped around her neck.

“I see you’ve been making friends.”

“You too.”

He smirked, “Janice, meet my nephew. Nephew, meet Janice.”

Jeremy took her hand gently. Past the white scarf, he could see slight smears of red around two dark holes on her neck and his eyebrow rose.

“Is it safe to feed? What about the vervain?” he asked lowly.

The vampire shrugged.

“There was none in her system. I couldn’t let the opportunity pass me.”

“You don’t think people will notice?”

“Why would they?”

Jeremy’s eyes shot to Janice, sighing inwardly as she simply stared between them and ignored the conversation they were having in front of her.

“You don’t think she’s going to notice the holes in her memory once you release her from compulsion?” the Traveler hissed. “Someone is going to notice when she can’t remember where she was for an entire day!”

“Relax kid. I have it under control like I always do,” he squeezed his shoulder. “Did you find out anything useful?”

“Not really. Elena’s dad is some kind of doctor and he sometimes uses vervain as medication, which is why he was down there last night. Bonnie’s parents don’t live here, which is why she lives at the boarding house with her grandmother,” he leaned in closer. “They talked about some woman that was found two weeks ago and her body was drained of blood. The sheriff called it an animal attack but I know it wasn’t.”

“Interesting,” Damon mused. “I’m going to assume your new friends don’t know vampires exist.”

“Or witches, or Katherine,” he shook his head. “They only think that Bonnie’s grandmother is a witch because she can see the future.”

The vampire’s brow rose, “Can she really?”

“I don’t know.”

Damon looked past him at the little group he’d left under the large redwood tree. Jeremy turned slightly too, miffed that the first thing he caught was Bonnie and Tyler sharing another kiss. Did they _ever_ stop kissing?

“Who’s that?” his guardian’s voice came out clipped but he paid no mind to it.

“Bonnie’s boyfriend,” he said, nearly sounding wistful.

“Tyler Lockwood?”

“Yeah…how’d you know?” Jeremy’s brow furrowed when he faced his guardian and saw a terrible scowl. “What?”

“Stay away from him,” he growled out.

Jeremy’s heart sank. “Why?”

“I told you about the Lockwoods and what they were. They were dangerous then and they’re dangerous now.”

“None of them know that the supernatural world exists! He probably doesn’t know werewolves exist!” Jeremy exclaimed. “What if they just share the same last name?”

“It’s too much of a coincidence.”

“Damon—”

“Don’t question me. Stay away from him,” he snapped. Jeremy glared at him.

“You’re the one that told me to make friends with people. Now all of a sudden they’re too dangerous?”

“I said Lockwood was too dangerous, not anyone else,” Damon’s eyes narrowed. “You just met these people Jeremy. They’re not your friends yet.”

“I should have the right to decide who I befriend!”

“Check your attitude,” he said gruffly. Jeremy’s mouth abruptly closed and he looked away. Damon could see his jaw clenching in anger, but he knew he was tiptoeing dangerously close to the line he knew he shouldn’t cross.

“When I tell you someone is a threat and to stay away from them, do it. Odds are I have a damn good reason for doing it,” he retorted. “So if I tell you to stay away from Tyler Lockwood because I think he’s a dangerous werewolf, that’s what you’ll do.”

“It’ll be hard for me to get close to Bonnie if her boyfriend is always around. They’re attached at the hip,” the Traveler’s lip curled slightly.

“Then find a way to talk to her without him around.”

“You’re being ridiculous! He’s _not_ a werewolf! Why are you so positive that he is?”

“I _know_ their family! You don’t!”

“That doesn’t mean you know _him_ Damon!”

“Neither do you! The hell is wrong with you today?” Damon’s snapped, fully irritated. “Stop questioning me and do what I tell you for _once_!”

The wind suddenly picking up around him made him look around in alarm. People screamed when it grew strong enough to move the poles dug in the ground to hold the tents and nearly blew pots of food onto the ground. Damon looked to the sky and saw that the sun was completely shrouded in dark, thick clouds that weren’t there before. The air grew colder and colder with each second, the same rate the wind seemed to pick up speed.

“Jeremy,” he grabbed both his arms and shook him gently. “Calm down. You’re changing the weather.”

His brown eyes blinked in confusion as he looked around. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, concentrating on reigning his ever growing magic back under control. When he opened them again, the irritation from Damon’s face was gone and replaced with confusion and concern.

“You okay?”

“Y-Yeah,” he looked around, hoping no one else realized he was the cause of the weather change. “I’m okay.”

Damon didn’t remove his hands from his arms.

“You’ve never done that before,” he said lowly. “How did you?”

“I…I don’t know,” he mumbled, utterly confused. For as long as he’d known he was a Traveler, he’d never heard of any other being able to do such a thing. Damon looked as if he wanted to keep talking but he merely sighed and squeezed his arms before pulling away.

“You think I’m being too overprotective, but there’s a reason I’m telling you to stay away from him. I know what werewolves are capable of and I don’t want you getting hurt,” he murmured. “He might not be a werewolf now but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know about it. He could know everything and _want_ to be a part of it. I don’t know Jer. All I know is that they’re stronger than vampires when they turn and I don’t want you getting mixed up in it. So just please stay away for my sake.”

Jeremy sighed as he turned away from him, his eyes catching Tyler’s as he looked over his shoulder at them. His heart sank further when he threw him that crooked smile that made him breathless and hot and feel like he was flying all at once. How could something as simple as a smile make him feel these things? And why was it Tyler, of all people, that had to have that smile? Jeremy nearly couldn’t bear the thought of being forced away from him so soon, as irrational of a thought it was.

“Jer?”

“Yeah, I’ll—I’ll stay away,” he hoped his voice wasn’t as despondent as it sounded. Damon hardly ever asked anything of him. If he did, it was for his protection or his happiness and this was no different. He wouldn’t defy him now.

“Thank you,” Damon squeezed his shoulder again. “You want to go home?”

“I don’t mind staying,” he said quickly. If this was the only time he could be around Tyler, he would gladly take it.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t,” Damon’s confident smirk was back and it made Jeremy smile. “Janice and I want to get to know each other a little better, right?”

“Yeah,” she smiled dreamily at him.

“I’ll come back for you later,” Damon ruffled his hair before they turned away. Just as he started walking back to his car, he felt Bonnie’s eyes on him and turned to meet them with his own. She blushed when he winked at her and he chuckled to himself as he led Janice away.

“Your uncle _already_ has a girlfriend?” Caroline asked as soon as Jeremy sat back down. “I thought you two just moved here yesterday?”

“We did,” he chuckled wryly. “He’s always been popular with women.”

“Well you certainly didn’t lie about him being sexy,” she smirked at Elena and Bonnie. “I think I should introduce myself.”

Elena rolled her eyes, “You’re still in high-school Caroline.”

“I’m 18 and a senior. And being in high-school didn’t stop Vicki. Remember Mason?” she smirked at Tyler, then Matt.

“Jesus, you’re never going to let that go, are you?” Matt grumbled as she laughed. Tyler’s nose wrinkled but that didn’t stop his lips from stretching into a smile. Jeremy wished he was always on the receiving end of those smiles.

He sighed as he leaned back on his hands, listening to the conversations and playful bickering around him. They were interrupted by Caroline’s mother, a woman of average build and height with cropped blonde hair, stern demeanor, and donning the outfit of a police officer gathering the girls so they could perform their latest cheer routine. Jeremy followed after Matt and Tyler as people congregated in front of the open field serving as the stage. He pressed close to them as they pushed their way to the front.

He watched the cheerleaders with mild interest, admiring how Bonnie could do the splits and backflip in midair. Irritation took over when he noticed Tyler’s attention completely focused on her. As irrational as it was, he knew he was justified in his anger. He couldn’t explain, not even to himself, this indescribable, illogical notion rooted deep within him that Tyler was, somehow, his. And as much as he wanted to heed Damon’s wishes, he wasn’t sure how successful he would be when every instinct in his body pulled him in Tyler’s direction, telling him to protect Tyler from other prying eyes and affections like Bonnie’s.

“Hey, do you know if April Young is coming to the party tonight?” Matt leaned over Jeremy to ask Tyler.

“Don’t know. Don’t you guys talk?”

“Sometimes.”

“Then ask her.”

“You know how her dad is, being the pastor and all.”

Tyler smirked, “The excuses you come up with to not talk to her are pathetic man. Grow a pair and ask her to go with you.”

“It’s not about that.”

“Isn’t it?” his eyes narrowed. “Or are you just trying to use her to make Caroline jealous?”

Matt’s nose wrinkled at the mention of the blonde and Jeremy couldn’t help his laugh.

“She has no right to be jealous. She’s the one that started hooking up with that Connor kid _while_ we were together.”

“You guys never had a title.”

“The hell we didn’t! I told her I wasn’t seeing anyone else!”

“You also said you weren’t looking to do anything serious.”

“Who’s side are you on man?” he whined. Tyler chuckled as he leaned in closer towards Jeremy. The Traveler’s breath caught in his throat when he inhaled his scent: a mixture of woods, spice and the musky scent of cologne that made heat pool in his stomach. He was intoxicating.

“Elena told me she was going. Stop worrying,” he chuckled lowly. “You better not screw up. Her father will kill you.”

“I know,” he grumbled as he scratched the back of his head. “And I’m not using her to get back at Caroline.”

“Pastor Young heads the church every Sunday,” Tyler murmured to Jeremy. “He also runs the Bible study group on Wednesdays.”

“Do you go?” Jeremy asked softly. Tyler shook his head.

“I used to when my mother was alive. She’d always make me go with her.”

The young Traveler immediately felt a wave of sadness wash over him.

“Sorry,” he chuckled roughly. Jeremy shook his head.

“It’s okay.”

Tyler turned his head and their eyes locked once again, different shades of brown with the same fiery passion. Jeremy moved even closer to Tyler, his body pressing into his arm when he was pushed by the rowdy crowd from behind, and Tyler put a hand on his chest to steady him. The warmth that seeped from his hand to his chest nearly made the Traveler’s knees buckle.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“It’s okay,” Tyler repeated his words huskily as he helped him stand straight again. Their eyes never strayed from the other, losing themselves in the moment.

The crowd around them erupted into cheers, startling them out of their trance. Tyler quickly removed his hand and looked down before giving Jeremy a slightly strained smile. Jeremy returned it, his throat suddenly dry.

“I—I need to—bathroom,” he sputtered out before pushing his way through the crowd without waiting for Tyler’s answer. After asking a kind old woman where the closest restroom was, he crossed the street and entered the library. Finding the bathroom at the back of the first floor, he shouldered his way inside and stumbled to the sink, turning on the water and cupping some in his hands to splash his face.

 _Get it together Jer,_ he told himself as he stared at his eyes in the mirror. _Remember what Damon said._

He gripped the sink hard as he got himself under control. Whatever was going on with him in regards to Tyler, he desperately wished it would stop. He didn’t like this feeling of possessiveness and jealousy (he couldn’t deny that that was what he’d been feeling in regards to Bonnie) that dominated him every time he saw him get too close to someone else. Damon had warned him to stay away but his very body protested that order. It was as if he couldn’t help wanting to be close to him and he hated it almost as much as he welcomed it. It bothered him he’d never felt it for anyone else, Damon included.

Not keen on returning to the performance quite yet, Jeremy wandered aimlessly around the first floor of the library, taking in the old dusty books that were nearly falling apart at the seams. He looked up when he saw a book on strange events that happened throughout history and saw he was in the supernatural section. Scanning the titles of the books quickly, he was slightly dismayed to find none on vampires, witches or gypsies. In books where his kind was mentioned, mostly history books, they were described as thieves, beggars, false prophets and seductresses that led people into darkness. Self-loathing had come for a long time until Damon showed him the other side of the coin, that being his people were made into an enemy because of their gifts of manipulating the elements of the earth. They were hunted as much as they were coveted, though the majority of the world believed that a group of people shouldn’t be allowed that kind of power. Other witches, witches that had taken their pure magic and twisted it with dark spells yearned for the kind of bond that Traveler’s held with the earth, spells that allowed them to become one with nature but were unlikely to ever forge and their envy turned hatred put others against them. The books never mentioned the good their magic could do.

Jeremy frowned when he thought about earlier, how he was the cause of the apparent change of weather. Now the wind had disappeared and the clouds spread around the sun instead of blocking it. There were gypsies that were undoubtedly powerful enough to control the weather, but he hadn’t had nearly enough practice with his magic to harness that kind of power. Being monitored all his life hadn’t been helpful for him; he was certain other Travelers at his age would be able to change the weather and more. He couldn’t help but resent Damon just slightly for not allowing him to practice, though the vampire had good reason not to do so. But perhaps he could find time to practice now in the midst of befriending Bonnie and Elena. Damon wouldn’t always be around to hover over him, like right now.

Looking behind him, he realized he was alone. Smirking, he lifted his hand, locked eyes on a book on the top-most shelf and focused on the force in his palm. His muscles twitched and flexed under his skin, pulling inward as if he were trying to grasp something without the use of his fingers. Nothing happened at first. Then the book, along with the rest of the top shelf, shot from their places. Jeremy ducked and covered his head as they came crashing down. He hardly realized that someone had pushed him out of the middle of the aisle to the end, avoiding two heavy books that would’ve landed on his head.

“You okay?” the person, a girl, asked him frantically as she looked him over. Jeremy gaped at her, praying she didn’t just see what he’d done.

“Yeah! Yeah I was…I was just trying to get a…book,” he frowned when he saw the mess he made. How much had she seen?

“How did you manage to do that?” she laughed as she gestured to all the books on the ground. An uneasy laugh slipped from his lips.

“I guess I don’t know my own strength,” he coughed lightly. “I’m surprised no one heard it.”

“I’m sure they did. They’re just happily ignoring it.”

She bent down to pick up one of the books that landed face first and open. Her jet black hair spilled over her shoulders as she stood up again, the book between her delicate, pale hands as she skimmed through the bent pages. Her wide, brown eyes clouded with amusement and confusion and her red lips pulled into a bemused smile when she showed him the front cover.

“Interesting choice. You don’t look like the kind of person to be into the fundamentals of neuroscience.”

“Oh…it’s a hobby,” he winced, hoping that didn’t sound as lame as he thought. She was silent, staring at him as if she could see right through him. It set Jeremy slightly on edge.

“You must be the new kid they keep talking about. Jeremy, right?”

“Yeah…” he frowned. “Who’s been talking about me?”

“Some of the parents at the fundraiser, specifically the moms. They’re all nosy broads,” she winked and he chuckled. “They think your uncle’s hot.”

“Of course they do,” he muttered under his breath. “Well, thanks for saving me…?”

“Anna,” she shook his hand quickly. “I saw you earlier, with Tyler Lockwood and his friends.”

Jeremy prayed his face didn’t change when she mentioned his name.

“Are you friends with them?”

She gave him a mysterious smile, “Not really.”

“Oh.”

He looked away, unsure of what to say. There was something strange about the way this girl saved him from being crushed by heavy books, which no one was around to watch. Perhaps she’d been walking by or—?

“Why are you here?” she asked abruptly.

“I was using the bathroom—”

“I mean here in Mystic Falls,” she interrupted. Jeremy frowned slightly at the question.

“I…my uncle wanted to. He’s been here before.”

“He’s been here?”

“Yes,” he said shortly. She laughed lightly at the edge in his voice.

“I don’t mean to pry, but no one _ever_ just decides to live here. Not without a good reason. And moving here from Paris of all places, well…it just sounds odd.”

“How did you know I was from Paris?” he asked carefully. She looked confused before her smile was back.

“From the gossip hoard. I told you they couldn’t stop talking about you,” she grinned. “I’m surprised none of them are tripping over themselves to meet you.”

Jeremy was unable to tell if she was a threat or not, but there was something deceiving about her kind smile and soft brown eyes. She was hiding something, yet he couldn’t figure out what.

“Well, thanks for saving me,” he moved from her side and began picking up the fallen books. He was slightly surprised when she helped him, even carrying some of them to a nearby table and stacking them next to his pile.

“You wanna get something to eat? There’s this place called the Mystic Grill not too far from here. It’s the only decent hangout spot in this town,” she shrugged. “This charity fundraiser stuff isn’t really my scene. I have a feeling it isn’t yours either.”

The corners of Jeremy’s lips pulled up and a small smile graced his lips, “That obvious, huh?”

“You only look like you’re about to die from boredom,” she giggled. “So, you want to?”

“I…thank you but I actually came with people so…I should go back to them,” he felt guilty when her smile fell. “Another time, though?”

“Of course,” she smiled. “I’ll walk you back.”

They left the library side by side. Jeremy tried to look at her from the corner of his eye; she seemed normal enough, but there was something… _off_ about her. Nothing in particular stood out, but her very presence set him slightly on edge. But it also could’ve been the fact that she just happened to show up when he decided to practice his magic. He wondered if Damon compelled her to follow him, then scolded himself for being paranoid.

Anna made small talk as they crossed the street and rejoined the majority of the town the park. Jeremy listened and replied when he was supposed to, but he couldn’t prevent his thoughts from straying back to Tyler. Bonnie and the others should’ve been done with their routine by now, which meant she’d be wrapped around Tyler again like an octopus, like she wasn’t her own person without him, he thought viciously.

“Jeremy! There you are!” Matt waved him over where their group had reconvened. The Traveler grinned when his eyes fell on Tyler, but it quickly disappeared at the dark look on his face. He noticed the others watching them carefully too.

“I’ll see you around Jeremy,” Anna said before he could say anything. She turned away from him just as the others closed their distance.

“What were you doing with her?” Tyler’s sharp voice startled him, so much so that Bonnie placing a hand on his arm to calm him didn’t anger him.

“I…I met her in the library…” he frowned at the looks they were giving him. “Is something wrong?”

“Stay away from her,” he growled. The irony of his guardian speaking those very words about him earlier wasn’t lost on Jeremy, yet he frowned all the same.

“Tyler,” Bonnie admonished with a small glare. “You can’t just—”

“He shouldn’t be around her. You _know_ why.”

“That should be _his_ choice. Not yours,” she said firmly. “Don’t turn him against people he doesn’t know.”

“Anna and her mother aren’t exactly popular,” Matt murmured to Jeremy. “They were suspects in Tyler’s mother’s murder investigation.”

Jeremy’s mouth dropped in shock. Well, he certainly hadn’t seen that one coming. Now he understood the hostility.

“Why were they suspects?”

“Her hair was found at the scene. One black strand found on my mom’s skirt,” Tyler snorted bitterly. “Her mom said she had spoken with mine the day before and that was how it got there but I know they had something to do with it.”

“Ty, they both had alibis for that night,” Bonnie said softly. “It was an—”

“An animal attack, I know Bon,” he muttered bitterly. “I just…I have a feeling that they know more than they let on. They were the last ones to see her. They have to know _something_.”

Everyone grew quiet. Jeremy couldn’t take his eyes off of Tyler’s hunched form. Those dark, passionate eyes were now aimed at the ground. Without realizing what he was doing, he’d moved forward and squeezed Tyler’s shoulder, doing his best to ignore the sharp jolt of euphoria and heat that hit his stomach.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Tyler lifted his head and graced Jeremy with another small heart-stopping, stomach-fluttering smile.

“The fundraiser is over,” Elena said as others started taking tents down and packing away food. “We should get going.”

“We can give you a ride back,” Bonnie smiled at him. He nodded as he removed his hand from Tyler’s shoulder.

“Sure.”

As they piled into their cars and he texted Damon that he was getting a ride from the girls, Jeremy wondered how he was going to convince his guardian to let him hang out in the woods after dark. It was the kind of thing the vampire got paranoid about, knowing the kinds of things that came out after the sun went down.

When they returned to the boarding house he wasn’t at all surprised to see the blue Camaro parked in the same spot as it was when he left this morning.

“Did your uncle already know that woman before you guys got here?” Bonnie asked indifferently as they climbed the stairs. “They seemed really…cozy. I mean familiar with each other.”

“No, my uncle has that effect on people,” he shrugged with a forced chuckle. “He told me he used to be a huge player before he found—before he started taking care of me.”

She hummed as she used a key from her apple key ring to let them in through the front door.

“I only asked because I’ve never seen her with anyone. No one really knows much about her even though she’s worked at our school for three years.”

There was something about Bonnie’s tone that threw him. But before he could read into it, Damon was calling to him from upstairs, leaning over the banister.

“How was the fundraiser?”

“Fine,” he shrugged. Damon descended the stairs slowly, his eyes locked on something past his shoulder and he only just realized that Bonnie was still standing behind him. He looked over his shoulder and was surprised to see her looking embarrassed and a little guilty.

“I…I’m gonna go change for tonight,” she squeezed Jeremy’s arm. “You still up for it?”

“Up for what?” Damon smirked as he looked between them. The Traveler bit his lip.

“Just hanging out.”

The raven-haired vampire looked between them, “Hanging out where?”

“My friend Caroline. She invited us over, including Jeremy if that’s okay,” Bonnie said quickly. The sound of their slightly accelerated heartbeats told him it was a lie but he couldn’t bring himself to call her on it.

“Alright. Just bring him back before midnight,” he winked at her without meaning to and immediately regretted the action because, as he’d guessed by his expression, Jeremy saw. “He gets grumpy without the right amount of beauty sleep.”

“Damon!” he snapped as the other laughed. She laughed too, though she sounded uncertain if her laughter was appropriate, before running upstairs. Jeremy watched her disappear into her room before he scowled at his guardian.

“Can you try to _not_ embarrass me?”

“I can’t help it sometimes,” he grinned cheekily before he grew more serious. “Where’re you really going?”

“A party in the woods,” Jeremy sighed. He knew Damon would see through the lie. “It’s safe.”

“I’m sure it is,” he snorted. “How many people are going?”

“I don’t know. A lot?”

“I assume parents don’t know.”

“No, they don’t.”

Damon ran a hand through his wayward hair and scratched his scalp in deep thought. The thought of Jeremy being alone in the woods with a bunch of children his own age, presumably in the possession of alcohol and other drugs, didn’t sit well with him at all.

“I know it sounds bad but what can _really_ happen?” Jeremy pleaded gently. “Let me use this as an opportunity to get closer to them. They like me Day. And I like them too.”

Damon sighed, contemplating. Eventually he smiled and pulled Jeremy into a hug by his shoulder.

“Don’t make me regret letting you go,” he muttered in his ear. “Be aware of your surroundings. If anything happens, call me.”

Jeremy grinned and squeezed his guardian before running up the stairs. Damon chuckled at his enthusiasm. It felt good to say yes to something when he was so used to denying Jeremy everything he wanted, whether it was too dangerous, unnecessary or to protect him. Of course, he wasn’t going to let Jeremy go without supervision but he never had to know.

The front door was suddenly thrown open and the man he had seen at the school earlier barged in.

“Zach? You here?” he screamed before coming to a stop a few feet from him. Damon immediately felt on edge as he looked him over.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he reached out a hand and shook his firmly. “I’m Mason Lockwood, their neighbor. I live down the street.”

“Damon,” the vampire forced out, trying to look as normal as possible. “You must be Tyler Lockwood’s father.”

“Uncle,” he corrected. He stared at Damon with a furrowed brow, “Have we met? You look familiar.”

He shook his head, “I don’t think so.”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve seen you somewhere—”

“Mason?” Zach appeared from the basement. He nodded at Damon in greeting and drew Mason into a hug, slapping him on the back. “You’re here to get your order?”

He nodded, shooting Damon another curious glance.

“Mason, Damon. Damon, Mason,” Zach gestured between them. “He’s got a nephew about Tyler’s age.”

“Is that right,” Mason’s expression became unreadable. Damon forced himself to produce a smile, though it was incredibly strained. “You visiting or staying?”

“Staying for a bit…until we decide otherwise,” he shrugged, sounding as casual as possible. Mason hummed but didn’t offer any other words.

“Excuse us,” Zach smiled at Damon, unaware of the sudden tension that took hold, and led Mason down into the basement. The vampire was unsure if he should be offended that he locked the door behind him. He needed to get into that basement to see how much vervain he was dealing with and how much these people knew about vampires. He’d thought about it constantly that day, and came to the conclusion that someone in this town now, possibly someone like Shelia Bennett or Zach could know something about Katherine or his brother. He was just unsure of who to question first.

Twenty minutes later, Jeremy and Bonnie walked downstairs side by side. Damon's mouth watered at her scent, the musky smell reaching him from where he was in kitchen trying to find something to drink that wasn't dosed with vervain. When he heard them nearing the front door he gave up his search and stopped them in the foyer.

“You remember what I told you?” Damon fixed his eyes on Jeremy, though he was certainly aware of Bonnie within his line of vision. It took everything in him not to meet her sparkling emerald eyes.

“Yes,” he sighed as he gave him a withering look. “I’ll be _fine_ Day.”

The corner of Damon’s lips twitched as he fought back a smile.

“We’ll be back before midnight,” Bonnie promised softly.

“Please,” he finally allowed himself to look at her. He couldn’t stop the dirty thoughts that passed through his mind when he took in her tight, cropped black shirt, skin-tight ripped jeans and brown combat boots. “Be careful.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jeremy waved him off as he went for the door. Bonnie let her gaze linger on him for another minute before following him. Damon waited until he heard them piling into Elena’s family car again when it pulled up and then taking off for the woods before he allowed himself to breathe. He was afraid of inhaling Bonnie’s intoxicating musky, flowery scent and not being able to control his bloodlust. Perhaps it was because she was a witch, but her scent was forever ingrained into his memory and he wanted, more than anything, to feed from her.

“Christ,” he muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He could really use something strong, and possibly some company to keep his mind his thoughts. He didn’t want to think about her, or Katherine or Stefan or that he made a grave mistake in bringing Jeremy to a town where ravenous werewolves lived. He’d considered killing them all, but as he saw how integrated they were into the community he knew he’d be caught immediately. And werewolves normally had packs; who knew how many werewolves were part of the Lockwood pack. The last thing he wanted was to start a war, and vampires and werewolves had had their fair share of wars over the years, all of them gruesome. Jeremy didn’t need to witness that horror.

Making sure his keys were in his pocket, he followed Jeremy’s direction out the door, walking across the small pebbles of the roundabout driveway to his blue Camaro. A sudden movement from behind his car, from beyond the dense pine trees made him pause. Narrowing his eyes, he caught sight of someone standing between the trees, shrouded in so much darkness he couldn't recognize anything about them. They stared at him and he stared back, the hollow quite of the forest around him sounding eerie even to his own ears. His heart hammered when he thought about who it could be.

Before he could do anything the figure was gone. Damon used vampire speed as he ran to the clearing, but could find no evidence of who was watching him. He looked everywhere he could see in the dark forest, but found no one there.


End file.
